Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Social Rented Housing: Rents

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has put in place a cap on rental increases for social housing renters; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a cap on those increases for people with shared ownership homes.

Dehenna Davison: I refer the Hon. Member to the Autumn Statement’s (Official Report, HC, Volume 722, Column 855) announcement on the cap on social rents. Further, to the answer I gave to Question UIN 173100 on 31 March 2023.

Evictions

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether it is his Department's policy that possession of a musical instrument would be a ground for eviction as a behaviour capable of causing nuisance or annoyance in the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan.

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether it is his Department's policy that operation of a musical instrument at reasonable hours would be a ground for eviction as a behaviour capable of causing nuisance or annoyance in the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan.

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment in respect of making behaviour capable of causing nuisance or annoyance a ground for eviction in the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is committed to abolishing Section 21, so called 'no fault' evictions, which will make tenants significantly more secure in their homes. Landlords will always need a reason to evict a tenant and should be prepared to evidence this in court. To ensure that landlords can gain possession when reasonable, we will strengthen the grounds for possession.We will introduce a Renters Reform Bill in this parliament and a full impact assessment will be published alongside the Bill.Of course, owning a musical instrument, or playing one at normal volume during appropriate hours, is not in of itself a ground for eviction.

Green Homes Grant Scheme

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made an assessment of potential fire risk posed by spray foam insulation installed under Green Homes Grant Vouchers finance.

Lee Rowley: Insulation installed under the Green Homes Grants scheme should have been carried out in accordance with the PAS 2035 standard and all relevant building work must comply with the fire safety requirements of the Building Regulations (Part B).

Building Safety Fund

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much has been (a) allocated and (b) disbursed by the Building Safety Fund up to 28 March 2023, broken down by English region.

Lee Rowley: The allocations and expenditure of the Building Safety Fund broken down by English Region is shown in the table below. Money is allocated and disbursed from the Building Safety Fund in response to successful applications. The regional allocations reflect those successful applications, which are determined based on the published criteria.RegionAllocationExpenditureEast Midlands £60m £21m North West £370m £176m East of England £43m £30m South East £99m £79m West Midlands £68m £54m Yorkshire and The Humber £177m £73m South West £77m £25m North East £17m £7m London £891m £416m Total £1,801m £880m N.B. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish a list of the housebuilders and mixed-use developers that his Department asked to sign the developer remediation contract on 30 January 2023.

Lee Rowley: On 14 March, the Government published lists of developers who had signed the contract and of developers who were invited to sign, but had yet to do so. The lists are being kept up to date.

Parish and Town Councils

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, under what processes a (a) town and (b) parish council may be abolished.

Dehenna Davison: The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 devolved the power to create, modify and abolish parish councils to principal authorities through the community governance review (CGR) process, and allowed the public to trigger a CGR by collecting signatures for a petition.

Council Tax: Valuation

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of updating the valuations upon which Council Tax bands are set.

Lee Rowley: Policy announcements will be set out in the usual way.

Nuclear Reactors and Wind Power: Planning Permission

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to tackle potential barriers to planning permission for (a) offshore windfarms and (b) small modular reactor sites.

Rachel Maclean: In February, the Government published an Action Plan setting out important reforms to the consenting process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.The Government has also published for consultation the updated Energy National Policy Statements, which will set the policy framework for new energy infrastructure against which individual applications will be assessed. A new NPS for Nuclear Power Generation which will cover smaller reactors is also being developed.

Shared Ownership Schemes

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support shared ownership homeowners.

Rachel Maclean: As set out previously the Government is taking numerous steps to support shared owners. For example, in April 2021, we introduced a new model of Shared Ownership.Following discussions with the sector, we are pleased that the majority of providers have confirmed that they will voluntarily limit Shared Ownership rent increases to no more than 7% in 2023-24.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of revising the National Planning Policy Framework to permit the development of new onshore wind farms in England.

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, published on 22 December 2022, whether he plans to revise the National Planning Policy Framework to permit the development of new onshore wind farms in England.

Rachel Maclean: We have consulted on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework. We will publish an official response in due course.The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has also committed to consult on delivering local partnerships for onshore wind. This consultation will be published shortly.

Energy Performance Certificates: Bolton South East

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the proportion of houses that have an EPC rating of (a) A, (b) B, (c) C, (d) D and (e) E in Bolton South East constituency.

Lee Rowley: This information is publicly available on the Open Data Service.

Cemeteries: Repairs and Maintenance

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on the maintenance of municipal cemeteries.

Lee Rowley: The department does not hold data on the local provision of graveyards and cemeteries. Local authorities play a vital role in providing essential services to their communities, and they are best placed to determine local provision.

Asylum: Translation Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the amount local councils have spent on translation services for asylum applicants in each of the last four years.

Felicity Buchan: DLUHC does not hold this information. The Home Office is responsible for asylum policy.

Department for Education

Department for Education: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of people employed within her Department have recorded that they have a disability.

Nick Gibb: Data compiled of all paid employees (headcount of 8,160) as at March 2023 shows 75.9% of staff have completed their disability declaration. Of those who have declared, 12.9% are disabled, 80.8% non-disabled, and 6.3% have selected the ‘Prefer not to say’ option.

Teachers: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to recruit additional teachers in Greater London.

Nick Gibb: The number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers working in state funded schools across the country. This is over 24,000 more than in 2010.As at the last School Workforce Census (November 2021, published in June 2022), there were over 75,700 FTE teachers in state funded schools in Greater London (Inner London plus Outer London regions) in November 2021. This is over 7,000 more than in 2010.The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and at ensuring teachers across England stay and thrive in the profession. The Department recognises there is more to be done, which is why the Department announced a £181 million financial incentives package for those starting initial teacher training in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing.The Department provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas.The Department remains committed to delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract and retain the very best teachers. The Government implemented the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation in full of a 5% pay uplift for experienced teachers and leaders in 2022/23. This award constituted the highest pay award for experienced teachers in over 30 years.Teacher retention is also a key priority and we have reformed early career support for teachers through the Early Career Framework, which provides the foundations for a successful career in teaching. This is backed by over £130 million a year in funding.The Department has also launched a new and updated suite of National Professional Qualifications for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.The Department has published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing. This includes the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter and the workload reduction toolkit, developed alongside school leadership staff to help reduce workload. These can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter and here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit.

Physical Education: Finance

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with the National Union of Teachers on the notice provided of future levels of funding for physical activity in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: The National Union of Teachers and Association of Teachers and Lecturers amalgamated in 2017 to form the National Education Union (NEU).Departmental Ministers and officials have had extensive engagement with the NEU and the other teacher and headteacher unions on school funding. Through the primary physical education (PE) and sport premium, the Department has devoted over £2 billion of ringfenced funding to primary schools to improve PE and sport since 2013. On 8 March 2023, the Government announced over £600 million of funding across the next two academic years for the PE and Sport Premium and £22 million to fund the School Games Organiser network. The Department is aware of the importance for schools to have this timely confirmation of funding, which will allow them to effectively plan and implement high quality PE and school sport for pupils.

GCE A-level and GCSE: Learning Disability

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help children with learning difficulties achieve higher GCSE and A-Level grades.

Nick Gibb: The Schools White Paper sets out the Government’s long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time. The Department’s plans ensure that there is targeted support for every child that needs it to help them to progress.The best schools use robust, reliable assessment to identify children who need extra help and offer targeted, evidence-based support to these children. All schools should monitor pupils’ progress in English and maths using robust assessment, have a system for responding, both in terms of adjustments to classroom practice and providing additional support for children who need it. The Department will, in partnership with Ofsted, set out further guidance on targeted support and the use of effective assessment in due course.To improve access to specialist provision supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the Department will provide £2.6 billion in high needs capital funding over the next three years to deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND or those requiring alternative provision.As part of this funding, the Department will deliver new special and alternative provision free schools. On behalf of the Secretary of State, the Department’s Regions Group will hold Local Authorities and academy trusts to account for local delivery for children and young people with SEND.Post 16 colleges have a duty to have regard to the SEND Code of Practice and secure the special educational provision that young people need in order to help them achieve their educational and training aims.To support students with more complex needs, the Government allocates high needs funding to Local Authorities through the dedicated schools grant. The Department does not differentiate between pre and post 16 funding. The total high needs funding for 2023/24 amounts to £10.1 billion, an increase of over 50% since 2019/20.

Reading: Standards

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve reading standards.

Nick Gibb: In 2018, the Department launched the English Hubs Programme to spread best practice in the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the Department has concentrated over £40 million of funding in this programme to improve the teaching of reading. The English Hubs are currently delivering intensive support to over 1,000 partner schools, reaching approximately 50,000 pupils in Reception and Year 1.These schools contain an above average proportion of free school meal pupils, who are over represented in the programme, along with those schools underperforming in phonics.In 2021, the Department published non-statutory guidance, The Reading Framework, aimed at improving the teaching of the foundations of reading in primary schools, by defining pedagogy and best practice.These form part of a supportive package of measures which also includes an updated list of validated phonics programmes, and a new National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy, as well as the funding for the purchase of phonics programmes.To help schools measure progress, the Government introduced a statutory phonics screening check in 2012 for pupils at the end of Year 1. By 2022, 87% of 7 year olds met this standard, which is a significant predictor of later reading comprehension performance.

Russell Scott Primary School: Repairs and Maintenance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will outline the planned timescales for building work on Russell Scott Primary School.

Nick Gibb: The 239 schools selected for the School Rebuilding Programme in December 2022, including Russell Scott Primary School, will start delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, over a five-year period. The Department is currently undertaking feasibility and due diligence on these schools prior to scheduling them. The Department met Responsible Bodies at information events in March 2023, where they were provided with an update on expected timescales. The Department will also be writing to all Responsible Bodies with an indicative timescale before the summer break.

Sex and Relationship Education

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to provide relationship and sex education to school children that is (a) high quality and (b) LGBT-inclusive.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that LGBT-inclusive relationship and sex education is provided to school children.

Nick Gibb: In September 2020, the Government made relationships education compulsory for primary school pupils, relationships and sex education compulsory for secondary school pupils, and health education compulsory for pupils in all state funded schools.Guidance for schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.On 8 March 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced the review of the guidance. The Department announced further details regarding the review on 31 March 2023. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/review-of-relationships-sex-and-health-education-to-protect-children-to-conclude-by-end-of-year.

Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to mark Gypsy, Roma, Traveller history month in June 2023.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member for Strangford to the answer of 19 January 2023 to Question 122193.

Free School Meals: Pupil Exclusions

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to provide free school meals to children who are permanently excluded.

Nick Gibb: Schools are legally required to provide free school meals (FSM) to eligible pupils. Pupils must be registered at the school in order to be eligible. For temporary or fixed term exclusions, schools should continue to provide FSM for registered pupils, either on the school premises or at any other place where education is being provided.In the case of pupils who have been permanently excluded, and are no longer registered with a school, the Local Authority must arrange suitable full time education for the pupil to begin from the sixth school day after the first day the permanent exclusion took place.

Teachers: Pay

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of impact of performance-related pay for teachers on (a) performance and (b) educational outcomes.

Nick Gibb: The Department believes that teachers should be paid on the basis of their performance rather than the number of years they have been in the profession. We believe that the best teachers should be paid more and that the most successful should be able to progress faster than was previously the case.The reforms to teachers’ pay introduced in September 2013 gave schools the flexibility to exercise their judgement as to how they reward their staff and to more closely align pay and performance. This enables them to attract and retain those teachers who have the greatest impact on their pupils’ achievements. This also means that schools are free to determine for themselves the salary, within the relevant national pay range, that they wish to offer on appointment.Non-maintained schools, including academies and free schools, are responsible for determining the pay and conditions of their staff themselves. Such schools are not obliged to follow the statutory arrangements set out in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document, although they may still choose to do so.

Performing Arts: North of England

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a specialist school for music, film and digital design in the north of England.

Nick Gibb: All pupils are entitled to a broad and ambitious cultural education, irrespective of where they live. The Department is currently assessing a number of applications for new free schools, including one in Bradford, linked to the BRIT school in London. This is a competitive process and the Department will announce approved schools later this year.

Reading: Schools

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve reading standards in schools.

Nick Gibb: Since the Department introduced the Phonics Screening Check in 2012, the proportion of 6-year-olds reaching the expecting standards has risen from 58% in 2012 to 82% in 2019, just before the pandemic.The proportion of Year 6 pupils reaching the expected standard in reading in the Key Stage 2 SATs has risen from 66% in 2016 to 73% in 2019, just before the pandemic.Our ambition is for at least 90% of pupils to reach these standards, through spreading best practice in the English Hubs Programme and through the new Reading Framework.

Disability: Children

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND review: right support, right place, right time, published on 29 March 2022, what steps her Department is taking to make it easier for parents of disabled children to receive financial support.

Claire Coutinho: The government has announced further support for next year designed to target the most vulnerable households, including those families raising disabled children. This cost of living support is worth £26 billion in 2023/24 in addition to benefits uprating, which is worth £11 billion to working-age households and people with disabilities. Further details on cost of living payments in 2023/24 is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payments-2023-to-2024.This means that over eight million households across the UK will be supported via additional Cost of Living Payments. The government is also increasing benefits in line with September inflation by 10.1% and will continue to provide support to all households through the Energy Price Guarantee, which caps the price households will pay for each unit of energy. This will save the average UK household £500 in 2023/24.In addition, over six million people across the UK on eligible ‘extra costs’ disability benefits will receive a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment in 2023/24, to help with the additional costs they face. This is in addition to the cost of living payments for households on means-tested benefits and pensioner households, if eligible.In 2023/24, the government is investing £27.3 million in Support for Families with Disabled Children Funding to support low-income families raising seriously ill or children with disabilities in England, by providing small grants to purchase equipment, goods, and activities, which would otherwise be inaccessible. This funding is currently administered by our delivery partner, the Family Fund Trust.The government has provided £842 million for 2023/24 to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to support those most in need, and to help with global inflationary challenges and the rising cost of living via the Household Support Fund. Local authorities can decide how to run this scheme and who is eligible, but the funding is aimed at anyone who is vulnerable or cannot pay for essentials, which can include families raising children with disabilities.

Pre-school Education: Staff

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of staff in early years education.

Claire Coutinho: In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the largest ever investment in childcare in England. Following this announcement, we will work closely with the sector to develop a plan to grow and develop the workforce.The department is providing a package of training, qualifications, expert guidance, and targeted support for the early years sector to focus on the development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children and help to address existing recruitment and retention challenges. We are funding a range of programmes, including additional funding for graduate level specialist training leading to early years teacher status and an accredited level 3 early years special education needs coordinator qualification.

Engineering and Manufacturing Industries: Qualifications

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact the new Level 3 Alternative Academic Qualifications have had on T-Level student numbers in the engineering and manufacturing sector.

Robert Halfon: The department is unable to make an assessment about the potential impact that level 3 Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs) are having on students studying T Levels in engineering and manufacturing, as they are still in development and will not be available for teaching until 2025.AAQs will be required to meet criteria that ensure they support progression to higher education.Small AAQs will be available for funding in a wide range of subjects, including science, engineering, health and social care, IT, art and design, performing arts, creative digital media, and sport.The department will evaluate the impact of level 3 AAQs as part of the delivery of the qualifications reforms.

Education: Finance

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason there was a £0.4 billion decrease in Education Capital DEL spending plans for financial year 2022-23 in the Spring Budget 2023 when compared to the figures in the 2022 Autumn Statement.

Nick Gibb: The Government’s spending on the education estate is unchanged after the Spring Budget, presented to Parliament on 15 March 2023.The change in budgetary control totals between the 2022 Autumn Statement and the 2023 Spring Budget, is a technical adjustment which reflects forecasts for how the academies sector will spend grants given by the Government, but it does not change the amount made available to the sector.Academies have some autonomy to decide how and when to spend funding allocated to them. The lower spend in the 2022/23 financial year is due to academies planning more substantial long term works which cross financial years.

Pupils: Weapons

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an estimate of the number of (a) occasions that schools in Birmingham, Erdington constituency have screened pupils using metal detectors and (b) weapons that have been recovered as a result of screening pupils in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not collect data on how many schools use screening or how many weapons are collected as a result of screening.The Department updated its guidance, ‘Searching, screening and confiscation’, in July 2022.Headteachers are encouraged to consult with local police who may be able to advise on whether installation of screening devices is appropriate. Any weapons that are found as a result of screening or a search must be passed to the police.Schools are advised that any search for a prohibited item by a member of staff or police officers should be recorded in the school’s safeguarding reporting system. This allows the designated safeguarding lead to identify possible risks and initiate a safeguarding response if required.

Free School Meals: Universal Credit

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to expand Free School Meals to all children with families in receipt of Universal Credit.

Nick Gibb: Since 2010, the number of pupils receiving a free school meal (FSM) has increased by more than two million. This increase in provision is due to the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals and protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM, compared with one in six in 2010.The Department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The Department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for FSM, but will continue to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. The Department continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments to provide support to disadvantaged families.

STEM Subjects: Teachers

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to update the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy to help tackle STEM teacher shortages.

Nick Gibb: In January 2019 the Department launched the Government’s first ever integrated Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, developed alongside and welcomed by teachers, education unions and leading professional bodies. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-recruitment-and-retention-strategy.The strategy focused on four key priorities where reform and investment can have the biggest impact, and the Department continues to deliver policies that stemmed from the strategy.The first priority is creating the right climate for head teachers to establish supportive school cultures. This is being delivered through measures such as the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter and the Department’s School Workload Reduction Toolkit, developed with the education sector. These can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter, and here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit.The Department has also prioritised transforming support for early career teachers. The Department has reformed early career support by rolling out the Early Career Framework, which provides the foundations for a successful career in teaching.The Department has focused on ensuring teaching remains an attractive profession as lives and careers progress. The Department has launched a new and updated National Professional Qualifications for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high-quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.The Department aims to make it easier for great people to become teachers. In 2021 the Department launched the new digital service, Apply for teacher training, which has enabled a more streamlined, user-friendly application route.These reforms support recruitment and retention across all subjects. However, some subjects remain more challenging to recruit to than others, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.In October 2022, the Department announced a £181 million Initial Teacher Training (ITT) financial incentives package for those starting ITT in academic year 2023/24, which is a £52 million increase on 2022/23. The package includes bursaries worth £27,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £29,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. The Department has also extended bursary and scholarship eligibility to all non-UK national trainees in physics.Additionally, the Department is providing a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.In spring 2022, the Department launched a pilot ‘Engineers teach physics’ initial teacher training course, designed to encourage engineering graduates and career changers with an engineering background to consider a career as a physics teacher.The Department reviews the financial incentives offer each year and considers introduction of specific targeted initiatives where there is evidence that they could contribute to the recruitment and retention of excellent teachers.

Department for Education: Correspondence

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to respond to the letter from the Sefton Association of Primary Headteachers, dated 26 March 2023.

Nick Gibb: The Cabinet Office target is for Departments to reply to 95% of correspondence within 20 working days. The Department and its Ministers understand the importance of providing timely responses to correspondence, and have set an internal target for responding to MP correspondence within 18 working days.The hon. Member’s correspondence was received in the Department on 26 March and a response has been sent.

Overseas Students: Visas

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of international student visa restrictions on the higher education sector.

Gillian Keegan: The department works closely with the Home Office on a range of issues, including on matters relating to international student visas. The government keeps all immigration policies under constant review to ensure they best serve the country and reflect the public’s priorities.International students make a significant economic and cultural contribution to the UK’s higher education sector, and I am proud to have met our International Education Strategy ambition to attract at least 600,000 international students for the second consecutive year.

Cabinet Office

Written Questions: Government Responses

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average cost to the public purse was of answering Written Parliamentary Questions as of March 2023.

Alex Burghart: The cost to the public purse of answering written PQs depends on numerous factors, including the size of parliamentary teams, volumes of parliamentary questions submitted, and the complexity of the question asked (and required policy work to answer it), amongst other factors. Across both Houses, there were 61,427 WPQs submitted in 2022, normally each requiring several hours of officials’ time, so the cost is likely to be substantial.

Infosys: Contracts

Dave Doogan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) contracts and (b) sub-contracts (i) Government Departments, (ii) executive agencies and (iii) non-departmental public bodies hold with Infosys.

Alex Burghart: Details of Government contracts above £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Disinformation

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2023 to Question 153687 on Disinformation, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Christchurch.

Alex Burghart: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Senior Civil Servants: Training

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how long the major projects leadership academy for senior responsible owners is.

Alex Burghart: The Major Project Leadership Academy (MPLA) is an 18 month programme aimed at senior leaders, SCS1 and above, of the projects in the Government's Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

UK Integrated Security Fund

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the new Integrated Security Fund will prioritise the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office,  whether the new Integrated Security Fund will provide funding and resources for the commitments in the National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security.

Alex Burghart: The UK Integrated Security Fund (UKISF) will expand upon the existing Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), including its work on Gender, Peace and Security. The new Fund will have a wider remit, funding projects both at home and overseas to tackle some of the most complex national security challenges facing the UK and its partners. It will also bring into scope some key existing programmes, such as the National Cyber Programme. Importantly this change from the CSSF is designed to ensure broader long-term integration of cross-government National Security efforts. Combining additional funding from other programming, the UKISF will have a budget of almost £1 billion, to help keep the UK safe.

Public Consultation: Standards

Afzal Khan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to monitor departments' performance against the Cabinet Office consultation principles, updated in March 2018.

Jeremy Quin: The consultation principles are high level guidance to help departments manage their consultations. The Cabinet Office provides advice to departments on these principles on request. Individual departments are legally responsible for the consultations they run, and will determine how to practically apply the principles to each of their consultations.

UK Integrated Security Fund

Drew Hendry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the UK Integrated Security Fund will have the same objectives for tackling (a) conflict and (b) gender equality as there were through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.

Alex Burghart: The UK Integrated Security Fund (UKISF) will expand upon the existing Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), with a wider remit, funding projects both at home and overseas to tackle some of the most complex national security challenges facing the UK and its partners. The new Fund will also bring into scope some key existing programmes, such as the National Cyber Programme.Importantly this change from the CSSF is designed to ensure broader long-term integration of cross-government National Security efforts. Combining additional funding from other programming, the UKISF will have a budget of almost £1 billion, helping keep the UK and its people safe.

Knives: Crime

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many instances of knife crime have been recorded in (a) the West Midlands, (b) Birmingham and (c) the Birmingham, Erdington constituency, in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Quin: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon lady Parliamentary Question of 30th March is attached.UK Statistics Authority Response (pdf, 167.5KB)

Home Office

Visas: Overseas Students

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether international students with Tier 4 visas who wish to switch to a dependant's visa based on their spouse's Tier 2 skilled worker visa are permitted to (a) continue their studies, (b) maintain their student status and (c) retain their studentship, including that under Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to international students with Tier 4 visas who wish to switch from a student visa to a dependant visa based on their spouse's Tier 2 skilled worker visa.

Robert Jenrick: Skilled Worker dependants can study, subject to the ATAS requirement, and guidance on applying as a Skilled Worker dependant is here: www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/your-partner-and-children A migrant cannot hold permission as a student and as a dependant at the same time. They will need to decide which type of permission is more suitable for them. A migrant’s visa status will not affect their status as a student with regard to financial sponsorship and bursaries. The continued eligibility for those depends on the terms and conditions of the specific schemes and is a matter for the student and scholarship/bursary provider to discuss between them.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many questionnaires have been (a) sent by and (b) returned to her Department in relation to asylum claims within the scope of the new guidance on streamlined asylum processing since the publication of that guidance on 23 February 2023.

Robert Jenrick: We need to make sure asylum seekers do not spend months or years, living in the UK at vast expense to the taxpayer, waiting for a decision. As part of these efforts to speed up the asylum process for high-grant nationalities, 12,000 asylum seekers who made legacy asylum claims, those made before 28 June 2022, are being asked to provide all necessary information in a new Home Office questionnaire to help determine their case. The exact number of asylum questionnaires which have been sent and returned under this streamlined process is not information currently held in a reportable format.

Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the Government has made on the appointment of an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

Robert Jenrick: The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.The Home Secretary recognises the importance of the role of Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and had launched a new open competition to recruit for this role.The role went live on 23 February 2023 and applications have now closed. For further information and the estimated timeline for this appointment please see the public appointment section on gov.uk.The competition will be conducted as quickly as possible, whilst ensuring we take the necessary steps to recruit the best person for the role.

Refugees: Families

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time was for her Department to make a decision on a refugee family reunion application in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.

Robert Jenrick: Information regarding processing times for family reunion applications is not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Immigration: Detainees

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role the detention gatekeeper will have in decisions to detain people under clause 12 of the Illegal Migration Bill.

Robert Jenrick: The detention gatekeeper will continue to have a role in assessing an individual’s suitability for detention, in line with published policy.

Asylum

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full-time equivalent asylum casework staff there were in her Department as of 1 March 2023.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum casework staff in her Department have (a) started and (b) ceased working in those roles since 1 January 2023.

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum casework staff in her Department have been paid a retention allowance for continuous service of (a) one year and (b) two years in each month since December 2022.

Robert Jenrick: The number of asylum casework staff who have been paid a retention allowance in each month since December 2022 is not information which is held in a reportable format, or routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The number of FTE asylum caseworkers employed per month until December 2022 is in the ASY_05(M) tab of the published immigration statistics is located here: Immigration and protection data: Q4 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Information regarding the number of full-time equivalent asylum caseworkers from January to March 2023 has yet to be published, therefore we are currently unable to provide the information for this quarter.

Biometric Residence Permits

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of Biometric Residence Permits issued in each month since 1 January 2022 have been subsequently reissued to correct errors in visa conditions.

Robert Jenrick: The information is not available publicly and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Embassies: India

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 24 March 2023 to Question 170759, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the vandalism and disorder that took place outside the High Commission of India in London in March 2023; and what steps she is taking to ensure the safety and security of diplomatic missions.

Tom Tugendhat: The Government takes the protective security of the Indian High Commission extremely seriously. The Government remains committed to protecting the security of missions throughout the UK, including preventing and rapidly and robustly responding to incidents such as this.The criminal damage and assaults on staff from the India High Commission at the incident on the weekend of the 18th March were unacceptable. The police have powers to deal with such acts. However, the use of these powers is an operational matter for the police, and decisions on possible criminal proceedings will be made in conjunction with the Crown Prosecution Service.As stated in our previous response, it is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on diplomatic security arrangements. To do so could compromise the integrity of those arrangements and affect the security of the individuals and locations concerned.

Body Searches: Children

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many strip-searches were carried out on children by Greater Manchester Police in each of the last five years; and what proportion of these were carried out on children of Black and Minority Ethnicity.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold this information centrally.For the first time in the year ending March 2022, the Home Office collected and published data on strip searches that occurred in police custody. Since it was the first year of collecting data, it was done so on a voluntary basis and Greater Manchester Police did not provide data.Data for forces that did provide data are available here: Police powers and procedures: Other PACE powers, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Collection of this data will be mandatory for all forces to provide from the year ending March 2023 onwards. Data for the year ending March 2023 will be published in Autumn 2023.

Anti-social Behaviour: Nitrous Oxide

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her oral contribution of 27 March 2023, Official Report, column 674, on Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan, what emerging evidence on nitrous oxide she is referring to; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Philp: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) published their report on nitrous oxide on 6 March, which set out the available evidence and made recommendations for action. This report can be found at the following link: Nitrous oxide: updated harms assessment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).The Government carefully considered the ACMD’s advice when making the decision to control nitrous oxide under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. In their report the ACMD cite anecdotal reports of an increase in neurological harms. They also identify evidence in relation to health and social harms and provide references to those sources within their report. This includes harms such as drug driving and littering as well as identifying widespread availability for illegitimate use. In addition to the ACMD’s review, the Government has received representations from members of the public, from police officers and others highlighting serious concerns and providing further anecdotal evidence of the dangers of nitrous oxide.The Government responded to the ACMD on 27 March. The Government’s response is available at the following link: Government response: ACMD nitrous oxide review (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Personation

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to make identity theft a recordable crime.

Chris Philp: Current legislation can already be used to prosecute those committing identity frauds. The Fraud Act 2006 covers the selling and using of stolen personal information to commit fraud. Legislation around data security covers the act of stealing personal information. This includes the Computer Misuse Act 1990, the Identity Documents Act 2010 and the Data Protection Act 2018. There are no plans for further legislation.A recordable crime of fraud is committed when financial gain is made from the use of a person’s stolen identity, rather than when the identity itself is stolen. This approach ensures that crimes are not double counted under the Home Office Counting Rules.Those who have had their identity stolen can report the matter to Action fraud, even when no financial loss has occurred. This information is logged as an information report, which is used to build a clearer intelligence picture, to identify fraudsters and prevent further victimisation.

Aviation: Immigration Controls

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many general aviation reports were submitted in each region in 2022.

Tom Tugendhat: Home Office records show that approximately 87,975 General Aviation Reports (GARs) have been submitted nationally in 2022.North Region -14,593Central Region - 28,362Heathrow Region - 23,950South Region - 20,093South-East Region - 977

Aviation: Immigration Controls

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department last reviewed the criteria under which general aviation reports are required.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office was consulted by HM Revenue and Customs about the requirement for the submission of General Aviation Reports for aircraft arriving in or departing from Great Britain or Northern Ireland prior to the Commissioners of Revenue and Customs making the Passenger Information Directions on 1 April 2022.

Asylum

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applications were awaiting processing in (a) June 2010 and (b) December 2022.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications awaiting initial decision can be found in table Asy_D03 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to December 2022.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Death Certificates

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) guidelines and (b) service level targets her Department has issued to Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages on issuing a (a) death certificate and (b) certificate for burial to a deceased person's next of kin once the death has been registered.

Robert Jenrick: The General Register Office for England and Wales provides written guidance to registrars that details the procedures to follow on the registration of a death.The statutory timescale to register a death that is not subject to coronial investigation, is five days. Death certificates are available as soon as a death has been registered and, in most cases, they are requested by informants at the time of registration. Similarly, the certificate for burial is normally issued immediately following a registration.

Asylum

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the asylum claims identified for consideration on inadmissibility grounds since January 2021 and subsequently admitted into the UK asylum system had a period between the asylum claim being submitted and admitted into the asylum system of (a) less than six months, (b) six to nine months, (c) ten to twelve months and (d) over a year.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on inadmissibility can be found in table Asy_09a and Asy_09b of the ‘asylum and resettlement summary tables’. The latest data relate to the year ending September 2022. Data for the year ending December 2022 will be published in future editions of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.The Home Office does not publish wait times between asylum applications being raised and the outcomes of cases considered under inadmissibility rules.Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2023 to Question 165227 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, whether the guarantee of a minimum of 32 hours of work every week from 1 April 2023 for people on the seasonal worker visa scheme will mean that workers must be paid for at least 32 hours work each week regardless of their pay period or if the 32 hours per week can be averaged over the worker’s pay period.

Robert Jenrick: A key objective of the route is to ensure that migrant workers are protected against modern slavery and other labour abuses.The Home Office has made ongoing enhancements to the route over the lifetime of its operation, most recently adding a mandatory minimum hours pay requirement to the Immigration Rules, ensuring that all workers will receive a guaranteed 32 hours of paid employment per week.Where a worker is paid on a weekly basis, they must receive pay for 32 hours of work. Where workers are paid over a longer period, for example on a fortnightly or monthly basis, some reasonable averaging is permitted. We monitor this closely and workers must not be required to work excessive hours at the end of their pay period in order to achieve the 32 hour average.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much the Government spends per day on accommodation for Afghans in the (a) Margalla Hotel, (b) Islamabad Hotel, (c) Envoy Continental, (d) Legend Palace, (e) IFQ Hotel and Resort, (f) Legend Hotel Islamabad and (g) Crown Plaza in Pakistan.

Leo Docherty: The total cost of accommodation and meals for ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) and ACRS (Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme) cases in Pakistan between 1 April 2022 and 28 February 2023 is approximately £15 million. For security reasons, we do not specify which hotels are used.

Development Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the table published by his Department entitled Data underlying SID 2021, published on 23 November 2022 as part of the page entitled Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2021, what the (a) project title, (b) channel of delivery and (c) description was of the project with the identifier ACRS_HO funded by £125,679,578 from official development assistance spending from the Home Department; and for what reason that information was described as temporarily removed from the table cited.

Leo Docherty: Due to the security situation in Afghanistan and the risk to our delivery partners, the UK adopted the international approach consistent with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee, where all information surrounding channel of delivery, project title and project description was temporarily removed in the data underlying Statistics on International Development (SID). This included official development assistance (ODA) for all activities in which Afghanistan was the "recipient country" or regional programmes in which Afghanistan were involved. FCDO is working to re-publish the non-sensitive data and any updates will be communicated via the Statistics on International Development page on www.gov.uk.More information on the ACRS scheme can be found on the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme page on www.gov.uk.

Global Disinformation Index

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2023 to Question 171377 on Global Disinformation Index, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of Global Disinformation Index activity in identifying and countering the potential use of advertising revenue of news publishing companies to support candidates in elections in Commonwealth countries.

Leo Docherty: The Global Disinformation Index (GDI) seeks to assess and identify disinformation online and provide information to assist technology and media organisations in deterring such activities and to disrupt revenues that emanate from them. The FCDO has made no assessment of GDI in relation to the use of advertising revenue of news publishing companies to support candidates in elections in Commonwealth countries.As with all FCDO programmes and projects, our support for GDI complies with His Majesty's Government's programme management, commercial and financial rules and guidance. This includes quarterly performance reports and frequent informal contacts between GDI and our programme managers. An independent review of our project with GDI conducted in 2022 concluded that "it is clear that GDI is making a real impact in countering disinformation".

Matiullah Wesa

Vicky Ford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to call for the release of Matiullah Wesa, head of Afghan education NGO Pen Path; and what steps his Department is taking to (a) clarify where he is being held, (b) clarify the reasons for his arrest and (c) help ensure he has access to legal representation and contact with his family.

Leo Docherty: The UK Government has repeatedly condemned the Taliban's decisions to restrict women and girls' education. We are committed to upholding the rights of women and girls and regularly press the Taliban to provide full and equal access to education for all. We support the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan's call for the Taliban to clarify where Matiullah Wesa is being held, the reasons for his arrest, and to ensure he has access to legal representation and contact with his family.

International Assistance

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has taken recent steps with his international counterpart to agree multi-year funding settlements for (a) Unitaid and (b) other multilateral organisations.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: I [Minister Mitchell] gave a Written Ministerial Statement [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-03-30/hcws705] on 30 March setting out indicative figures for FCDO's Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. These include indicative figures for all multilateral organisations of £3.311 billion in 2022-2023 and £3.974 billion in 2023-2024. Funding settlements are being communicated to multilateral partners, including the health multilaterals and have already been sent to Unitaid.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Ms Anum Qaisar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment on the effectiveness of the work of the WHO mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub.

Ms Anum Qaisar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will provide financial support to the WHO mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub; and if his Department will take steps to encourage pharmaceutical companies to engage with the Hub.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The World Health Organisation (WHO) mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub is in the early stages of its work. We continue to engage and support constructive dialogue with all involved stakeholders and assess over time its effectiveness.The UK Government is not providing direct, earmarked funding to the Hub. However, the UK is the largest provider of flexible funding to the WHO and is the second largest funder of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.The UK supports the expansion of vaccine manufacturing and is working with international and regional partners to catalyse strategic investments for vaccine manufacturing in low- and middle- income countries.

East Africa: Food Supply

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to help tackle the hunger crisis in East Africa.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is committed to addressing the deteriorating food security situation across East Africa. In financial year 2022/2023 the UK met its £156 million commitment to provide life-saving aid for people across East Africa. The UK is working to raise the profile of the crisis with our international partners and to ensure a robust response from humanitarian and development actors.

Turkey: Earthquakes

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to support Türkiye following the earthquakes; how much financial aid he has (a) given and (b) plans to give to Türkiye ; and whether financial aid for that purpose has been reprioritised from other planned projects funded by the Overseas Development Assistance budget.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As I said in my video-message to the International Donors' Conference on 20 March, UK aid totalling £43.3 million has helped thousands of survivors in Turkey and Syria, of which £15 million has been for aid in Turkey. We provided: search and rescue capability; specially trained dogs, and over 11,000 patients have been treated by UK medical teams. To fund the humanitarian response, underspends across a number of different projects and geographies were re-directed at the end of the financial year. As we move out of the emergency response phase, the UK will continue to stand in solidarity with Turkey and to look at what more we can do to support the longer term recovery effort.

Nigeria: Elections

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his counterparts in Nigeria on recent elections and potential steps to avoid outbreaks of violence.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Nigeria's recent elections marked a significant moment in the country's democratic progress. I [Andrew Mitchell] met the leading presidential candidates ahead of the voting to urge for peaceful and free elections and hope to continue this engagement with the incoming administration at and after the inauguration. UK Government officials have worked with a range of counterparts throughout the process, including to encourage the Nigerian electoral commission to address issues identified and by pressing parties to reach a peaceful resolution to their disputes through the courts. We look forward to working with the new administration to support a more prosperous and secure Nigeria.

Developing Countries: Vaccination

Maggie Throup: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the increase in bacterial vaccine manufacturing capacity in Low to Middle Income Countries.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK supports the expansion of vaccine manufacturing in low- and middle-income countries and is working with international and regional partners (including Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM)), development banks and the private sector to catalyse strategic investments for vaccine manufacturing in these countries. The UK is the second largest funder of Gavi, who are developing a strategy to support regional manufacturing capacity in low- and middle-income countries. The strategy aims to address barriers to investment in regional manufacturing and support efficient market outcomes.

Innovation and Science: Trade Promotion

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to fund and promote UK (a) science and innovation and (b) universities through its support to multilateral partnerships.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK's overseas Science & Innovation Network has 129 officers in over 65 locations who identify opportunities to build, support and nurture international collaboration between UK institutions and overseas academia, industry, government, and multilaterals.UK universities are funded directly by the FCDO in line with government procurement rules, including through open competition. In financial year 2020/21, the latest year for which figures are available, 108 UK research institutions were in receipt of FCDO R&D funding. This funding supports universities and innovators across the whole of the UK to undertake research and form international partnerships.

Ethiopia: Peace Negotiations

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the likelihood of international mediation by (a) the African Union or (b) other bodies of any dialogue between the Government of Ethiopia and the Oromo Liberation Army armed group; and what steps he is taking to support dialogue between the Government of Ethiopia and the Oromo Liberation Army armed group.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: On 28 March Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy told the Ethiopian House of People's Representatives that the Ethiopian Government was willing to initiate dialogue with the Oromo Liberation Army to bring a peaceful end to violence in Oromia and had formed a Peace Committee to begin talks. The British Embassy in Addis Ababa regularly discusses the violence in Oromia with the Ethiopian Government and with Oromo representatives to encourage a peaceful end to the conflict through inclusive dialogue. UK programmes, including the £4.5million Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme (HARP), support peacebuilding and dialogue efforts and the institutional development of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.

Kenya: Politics and Government

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) risks and (b) impacts of increasing political violence in Kenya; and what steps he is taking to support peace in that country.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government and the British High Commission in Nairobi are closely following the situation after post-election political violence in Kenya. We have issued a joint statement with other diplomatic missions in Nairobi calling for calm and restraint and for the security forces to remain neutral and provide protection for all Kenyans. We welcome the bipartisan parliamentary process to resolve key issues. We are encouraging Kenya's politicians to invest in this process, to support their democratic institutions and processes and so prevent further public demonstrations and violence.

Myanmar: Military Attachés

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to expel the defence attaché of the Myanmar Embassy in the UK in the context of reports of violence by the military in that country.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK Government continues to condemn the military coup in Myanmar and the violence against the people of Myanmar. Since the coup, we have announced significant targeted sanctions on the military leadership, its access to revenue, arms and military equipment. The UK has had no high level engagement with the military regime in Myanmar since the 1 February 2021 coup.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Mandarin Language

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 172466 on Mandarin Language, how many places he expects to be offered on the expanded programme.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We expect to be able to offer 300 places on our expanded Mandarin language training programme, spanning learners from total beginner to C1 proficiency.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Mandarin Language

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 172466 on Mandarin Language, how many of his Department's staff are currently undertaking full time language training in preparation for a posting to China.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The China Capability programme supports both part time and full time language training, through several training offers. We are double-funding in financial year 2024/2025, which will enable greater investment in Mandarin language training provision to FCDO staff, including those going on post.

Uganda: Homosexuality

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Ugandan Government on the anti-homosexuality bill passed by the Parliament of Uganda on 21 March 2023.

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to support LGBT+ people (a) fleeing or (b) seeking to flee Uganda following the passage of the anti-homosexuality bill in that country on 21 March 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: I expressed the UK's profound disappointment with the decision of the Parliament of Uganda to pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. This Bill threatens minority rights and risks persecution and discrimination of people across Uganda. The UK Government is alarmed by the increasing criminalisation of LGBT+ people in Uganda and by the amendments to the Bill, including introduction of the death penalty for 'aggravated homosexuality'. The UK Government is firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country.Through our High Commission in Kampala, we have raised these issues with the Government of Uganda and are working with members of the LGBT+ community and human rights defenders to understand their views and further protect the rights of these vulnerable communities. We will continue to work with the Governments of Commonwealth member states and civil society partners to reform outdated laws and end discrimination and violence against LGBT+ people.

British International Investment: Development Aid

Ms Anum Qaisar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of UK Official Development Assistance was spent on British International Investment in the financial year 2022-23.

Ms Anum Qaisar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of Official Development Assistance his Department plans to spend on British International Investment in the financial year 2023-24.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As the Minister for Development, I set out FCDO Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for financial years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 30th March 2023. The FCDO Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023, due to be published later this year, will include full breakdowns of financial years 2022/2023 spend and 2023-2024 plans.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Mandarin Language

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 172466 on Mandarin Language, how many of her Department's staff have (a) enrolled in and (b) completed optional part-time Mandarin classes in each of the last four years.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Optional Language Training (OLT) is for FCDO officers and spouses/partners (in FCDO-funded positions) posted overseas into 'non-speaker' slots, as well as spouses/partners who accompany officers posted into 'speaker slots'. OLT is designed to help staff reach a basic level of understanding in posts where English is not widely used or understood.As directorates are responsible for OLT we cannot readily collate FCDO wide statistics. For the North East Asia and China Directorate specifically, 60 FCDO staff and spouses / partners enrolled for OLT over the period April 2019 to April 2023. OLT cannot be "completed" as there is no associated proficiency test involved.

Developing Countries: Debts

Ms Anum Qaisar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Seventh Report of the International Development Committee entitled Debt relief in low-income countries, published on 10 March 2023, HC 146, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the recommendation on including a strategy for debt relief in the next iteration of the International Development Strategy.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK plays a leadership role in international discussions on developing country debt. The Government will continue to work with its international partners to urgently address debt vulnerabilities in low-income countries.FCDO considers debt as part of its approach to international development. The Government will be responding to the International Development Committee's recent inquiry into debt relief in low-income countries in the usual manner, including their recommendation for a strategy.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Mandarin Language

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 172466 on Mandarin Language, what funding her Department have allocated to part-time optional Mandarin lessons in the next financial year.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The budget for Optional Language Training (OLT) is held by directorates within the FCDO. Eligible staff and spouses/partners can choose to undertake 250 hours of OLT, and are able to request additional hours to reach a higher level by submitting a business case. As the amount spent on OLT each year depends on staff uptake and comes from directorate's discretionary budgets, we cannot say what amount of funding has been allocated this year.

Hong Kong

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact of his planned meeting with the Finance Minister of Hong Kong due to take place in April 2023 on the Government's policy that the People's Republic of China is in ongoing non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration; and what steps he plans to take to advance his Department's policy objectives on Hong Kong and its relationship with China during that meeting.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: No such meeting is planned. We have made clear our assessment of China's non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration and our strong opposition to the National Security Law. The Foreign Secretary set out those issues with State Councillor Wang Yi in February. Through the Integrated Review Refresh, the Prime Minister has set the direction across government for a consistent, coherent, and robust approach to China, rooted in our national interest and values. That extends to our approach on Hong Kong.

Myanmar: Democracy

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support Myanmar’s transition to democracy.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK stands in solidarity with those calling for a return to democracy in Myanmar. On 6 February 2023 the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, James Cleverly, met the National Unity Government's (NUG) "Minister for Foreign Affairs", Zin Mar Aung, to highlight the UK's support for all those working peacefully for an inclusive and democratic Myanmar.On 21 December 2022 the UN Security Council passed the first ever resolution on the situation in Myanmar, led by the UK. The resolution stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes in accordance with the will of the people. We will continue to use our role as penholder to keep Myanmar on the UN Security Council's agenda.

Palestinians: Schools

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency on the use of the official Palestinian Authority school curriculum in schools in the West Bank and Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on aid contributions to (a) the Palestinian Authority and (b) the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are longstanding supporters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We recognise that UNRWA needs to be on a more secure financial footing to ensure that Palestinian refugees' basic needs are met. On 22 September 2022 in New York, The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, attended a ministerial dialogue on UNRWA's financial situation where he reiterated UK support for the agency and the need for the international community to support it to be on a more viable financial footing. We accompany our support for the UNRWA with stringent attention to implementation of their neutrality policy, including how they apply this to textbooks and other learning material to ensure they reflect UN values. We also regularly raise the issue of textbook content with the Palestinian Authority directly. Lord Ahmad also reinforced this message during his visit to a UNRWA school on 12 January.

Pakistan: Ahmadiyya

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations has he made to his counterpart in Pakistan over reports of the destruction of the minarets of an Ahmadi Muslim mosque in Kalra Kalan District in that country by local police.

Leo Docherty: Protecting and promoting freedom of religion or belief is central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on 30 January. On 9 January, Minister of State for Development Andrew Mitchell raised the issue with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The British High Commission in Islamabad continues to engage at a senior level with government representatives and civil society, including on recent attacks on Ahmadi mosques.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.

David Rutley: Latest figures show that 13% of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) staff have disabilities which is line with the rates of the UK Economically Active Population. Regular analysis of diversity data is conducted to understand the demographics of our workforce, enable strategic decision making and review the impact of people policies. FCDO secured accreditation as a Disability Confident Leader in July 2021 and has a designated team, alongside staff networks that support workplace reasonable adjustments and Assistive Technology for employees in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the re-imprisonment of Fariba Kamalbadi and Mahvash Sabet in Iran.

David Rutley: The UK unequivocally condemns the persecution of religious minorities in Iran. Reports of increased detentions, expropriation of land and destruction of homes indicate the regime intensified its repression of the Baha'i community in 2022. On 20 December 2022, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Fiona Bruce, expressed the UK's condemnation of the sentencing of Baha'i leaders Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi to a further decade of imprisonment. We continue to work closely with our international partners to hold Iran to account for its dire human rights record, and to raise these issues with the regime at all appropriate opportunities.

East Africa: International Assistance

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department intends to publish country funding allocations for financial years 2022-23 for (a) Kenya, (b) Ethiopia, (c) South Sudan and (d) Somalia.

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department's funding allocations were for (a) Kenya, (b) Ethiopia, (c) South Sudan and (d) Somalia in financial year 2022-23.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 2022-2023, due to be published later this year, will provide Official Development Assistance budget breakdowns of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 allocations by country.

Afghanistan: Save the Children Fund

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of reductions in funding to Save the Children on their work in Afghanistan.

Leo Docherty: Given the Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding constraints it has been necessary to revise allocations across FCDO. To minimise negative impacts, we cut programmes that had yet to mobilise or were in early stages of mobilisation.This financial year we will continue to support Save the Children's work through schemes like the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, the Girls' Education Challenge, and the Global Partnership for Education. We will continue to ensure the UK's ODA funding is allocated where it is most effective, delivering on its aims while providing value for money to the UK taxpayer.

Occupied Territories: Health Services

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in Israel following reports of attacks on health workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

David Rutley: We strongly condemn all forms of violence and incitement to violence directed towards healthcare workers. British Embassy Tel Aviv regularly raises the importance of regularised access to healthcare with the Israeli authorities. We recognise that under international humanitarian law, Israel, as the occupying power, has a duty of ensuring and maintaining public health to the fullest extent of the means available to it. The wounded and ill in Gaza and the West Bank should be able to access the urgent medical care they need.

Cyprus: National Security Bill

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Cyprus on the National Security Bill.

Leo Docherty: The UK government has engaged extensively - including at senior official and Ministerial level - with the Republic of Cyprus on the National Security Bill. This included a meeting with the FCDO Permanent Under-Secretary on 14 March and the Security Minister on 29 March. We continue to engage the government of Cyprus at all levels, in both the UK and in Cyprus, on our wide-ranging bilateral interests.

Cyprus: Diplomatic Relations

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the National Security Bill on diplomatic relations with the Government of Cyprus.

Leo Docherty: The bilateral relationship between the UK and Cyprus has never been stronger. Our shared commitment to working together on a wide range of priority areas is underlined in the 2019 Defence and Security Co-operation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the comprehensive bilateral MoU signed last year. The National Security Bill (NSB) will ensure that the UK can continue to protect its sensitive sites under UK law, as is currently the case under the Official Secrets Act 1911. As Lord Sharpe said when he made a statement in the House of Lords on 18 January, the NSB will in no way contravene the 1960 Treaty of Establishment of the Republic of Cyprus.

Israel: Palestinians

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on recent reports of (a) attacks on Palestinian healthcare personnel and facilities and (b) demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure.

David Rutley: The UK strongly condemns all forms of violence towards healthcare workers, who should be able to go about their work without obstruction. Demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, call into question Israel's commitment to a viable two-state solution, and in all but the most exceptional of cases, demolitions by an occupying power are contrary to international humanitarian law. The Foreign Secretary met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on March 21 in London and made clear the need to avoid actions which escalate tensions and violence.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people (a) expressed interest in Pathway 3 and (b) were approved for relocation to the UK via that pathway under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme.

Leo Docherty: The UK Government received over 11,400 expressions of interest (EOI) under ACRS Pathway 3. To date, the FCDO has informed over 200 individuals that they are eligible in principle for resettlement to the UK under Pathway 3, subject to passing security checks. Including their dependents, this accounts for over 1000 of the 1500 available places in the first year of Pathway 3.

Development Aid: Health

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support manufacturing initiatives for health products in (a) Africa and (b) other regions.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO's Manufacturing Africa programme has been facilitating investments in pharmaceutical manufacturing and supported the African Union Centre for Disease Control's "Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing" (PAVM) initiative to increase African based vaccine manufacture. Another project in financial year 2020-21 enabled an increase in the quality and capability of Personal Protective Equipment production in Africa and Asia. The UK also supports manufacturing of health products in Africa and elsewhere through support for global health initiatives such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), the Vaccine Alliance, and Unitaid.

Development Aid

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what processes his Department has in place to help ensure that country allocations for financial year 2022-23 reach local actors and communities in a timey manner.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: 2022-23 allocations were confirmed in year and all funds spent or committed by 31 March 2023. During the year, programme teams have been in continual contact with their partners to ensure all available funds in 2022-23 were spent in a timely way to deliver maximum value for money. As set out in the UK Government's strategy for International Development Strategy, we are committed to stripping back excessive bureaucracy associated with delivering aid, making it quicker to get programmes delivering on the ground.

Syria: Military Intervention

Nicola Richards: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of (a) the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ infrastructure in Syria and (b) the drone strike on a coalition military base in northeast Syria on 23 March 2023.

David Rutley: The UK Government regularly monitors the impact of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) continued destabilising activity throughout the region and we discuss our approach to IRGC activity and infrastructure in Syria with regional and international partners. We condemn the recent callous attack committed against a US base in North East Syria, which killed a US national. The UK recognises the US's right to use force in self-defence and stands by its partners in the Global Coalition Against Daesh and will continue to play a leading role in the Coalition's mission to defeat Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Algeria: Churches

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the closure of churches in Algeria.

David Rutley: The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all in Algeria. We engage regularly with groups from different faiths to understand their circumstances and any challenges they may face. The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for FoRB, Fiona Bruce MP, raised the ability of religious minorities to freely practice their faith with the Algerian authorities during her visit to Algiers in September 2022. The Minister for North Africa, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised church closures when he met the Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs in June 2022 and also with the Algerian Ambassador to the UK in March 2023.

Iran: Nuclear Power

Nicola Richards: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’s in deterring Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

David Rutley: Iran's escalation of its nuclear activities is threatening international peace and security and undermining the global non-proliferation system. A viable deal was put on the table in March and again in August 2022 which would have returned Iran to compliance with its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) commitments and returned the US to the deal. Iran refused to seize a critical diplomatic opportunity to conclude the deal with continued demands beyond the scope of the JCPoA. Iran's actions over the past months have made progress towards a diplomatic solution much more difficult. We are considering next steps with our international partners.

Syria: Earthquakes

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to support Syria following the earthquakes; how much financial aid he has (a) already given and (b) plans to give to Syria; and whether financial aid for that purpose has been reprioritised from other planned projects funded through the Overseas Development Assistance budget.

David Rutley: The UK committed a significant package of aid, totalling over £43 million, following the devastating earthquakes. Of this, more than £28 million has supported lifesaving activities in Syria, including the search and rescue operations of the Syria Civil Defence (White Helmets), the delivery of vital items such as blankets and tents and increased funding to the UN and other trusted partners. To fund the humanitarian response, underspends across a number of different projects and geographies were re-directed at the end of the financial year. The UK will announce future funding for Syria at the Brussels VII Conference in June.

Palestinians: Development Aid

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to (a) implement policies and (b) provide funding to help support (i) sustainable development, (ii) peace and (iii) self-determination in Palestine.

David Rutley: The UK is committed to making progress towards a negotiated two-state solution and recognises the role of development in building the Palestinian Authority's capability for this. We continue to support The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides education to more than 533,000 children a year, half of which are girls, and access to health services for 3.5 million Palestinian refugees. We also continue to work with the Palestinian Authority to improve its financial management and security sector.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March to Question 163724 on Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid, whether funds held by the independent foundation being established with the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC will be able to assist all those in humanitarian need as a result of the war in Ukraine including those not in Ukraine.

Leo Docherty: The proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC are held in a frozen bank account; any use of the funds requires a licence from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The Government committed that the Treasury will only issue a licence which ensures that the proceeds are used exclusively for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine. The war has left an estimated 17.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection inside Ukraine, with 5.4 million internally displaced.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Vahid Beheshti

Mark Jenkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he held discussions with Vahid Beheshti during his recent hunger strike outside his Department; and what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the potential merits of proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.

David Rutley: On Wednesday 29 March, The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met with Mattie Heaven to discuss the welfare of her husband, Mr Beheshti, and his call for the UK Government to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Lord Ahmad made clear that the UK Government is taking the threats of the Iranian regime, including the IRGC, seriously and highlighted the actions the UK Government is taking to respond robustly to these threats.The list of proscribed organisations is kept under careful review, but we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription. The UK maintains sanctions on over 300 Iranian individuals and entities including in relation to human rights violations, counter-proliferation, regional activity and support to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. That includes sanctioning the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in its entirety.

Department of Health and Social Care

General Practitioners: ICT

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices use cloud-based telephone solutions.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners: Telephone Services

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of GP practices with cloud-based telephone solutions.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter sent by the hon. Member for St Albans on 16 November 2022, and subsequently resent on 20 January and 20 March 2023, reference DC5119.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Community Diagnostic Centres

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what community diagnostic centre locations have opened since October 2021; what was the (a) date on which each community diagnostic centre began operating, (b) number of diagnostics tests each location carried out per month since it opened and (c) number of diagnostic tests each centre's host trust carried out each month since the location opened; how many diagnostic tests each centre's host trust carried out in each month of 2019; and how much capital funding each community diagnostic centre location has received.

Will Quince: The information requested is shown in the attached table.Tab 1 shows community diagnostic centre (CDC) start dates and activity per month from October 2021 to November 2022.Tab 2 shows all diagnostic test activity for each CDC’s home trust.Tab 3 shows capital funding awarded for each CDC in 2021/22.Tab 4 shows capital funding awarded for each CDC in 2022/23.There are 100 CDCs currently operational that have delivered over 3.5 million additional tests as of March 2023 (including large, standard and hub models).Investment in up to 160 CDCs will deliver up to 17 million tests by March 2025, having added the capacity for nine million more per year once they are all fully operational.Community diagnostic centres table (xlsx, 84.6KB)

General Practitioners: Closures

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March to Question 161414 on General Practitioners: East of England, what data his Department holds on the closures of GP surgeries in the last twelve months in (a) each county in the East of England and (b) England.

Neil O'Brien: During the most recent 12-month period for which data is available, which is January 2022 to December 2022, 158 practices closed in England. No confirmed closures have yet taken place in 2023.Where a practice merges with another and becomes a branch, this may be recorded as a closure even though patients may still be able to access services at the location of the original practice.In regard to closures per county across England, we do not hold the data in this format.

Dental Services: Children

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of delays in fitting braces for children on the dental health of those children.

Neil O'Brien: No assessment has been made. Commissioners work closely with local orthodontic clinical networks to manage local waiting times and service provision. Our expectation is that treatments required for children are prioritised by clinicians based on their assessment of the child’s individual needs.

Doctors: Workplace Pensions

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2023 to Question 166290 on Doctors: Workplace Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the financial benefit to doctors expected from the policy to remove the lifetime allowance on pension savings.

Will Quince: Pension benefits in the legacy National Health Service scheme at the previous lifetime allowance (LTA) provide an annual pension of around £46,000 plus a tax-free lump sum of around £138,000. The removal of the LTA means that NHS clinicians can continue building their pension tax-free beyond this level, without further accrual being limited by 25% if taken as annual pension or 55% if taken as additional lump sum.Retirement is a personal decision, and it is not possible to identify the impact of a single factor. The changes announced at Budget will ensure that the vast majority of doctors in the NHS are not disincentivised from remaining in roles and taking on extra hours, as pension tax is no longer a trigger event for retirement. The financial benefit of the changes is different for individual doctors depending on their earnings, pension accrual, and circumstances.In 2021/22, 2,074 NHS Pension Scheme members retiring in that year incurred £93.6 million of LTA charges, indicating an average tax charge of £45,000. 88% of this group were senior hospital and primary care clinicians. This is indicative of the additional pension benefits high-earning NHS Pension Scheme members might receive as a result of the abolition of the LTA. However, this excludes the impact of the LTA on those who retired or opted out of the scheme to reduce their LTA liability.

Palantir: Databases

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the security of NHS data held by Palantir Technologies.

Will Quince: Data processes and systems within the Palantir Foundry software platform are required to comply with the Technology Code of Practice, Government Digital Services standards, the Department’s Guide to good practice for digital and data-driven health technologies, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the United Kingdom's implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation, Information Commissioner’s Office guidance and associated regulations, standards and guidance.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) serious incident and (b) coroner reports relating to mortality due to ambulance delays there were in each Ambulance Trust in the last year; and what steps he is taking to tackle such delays.

Will Quince: The total number of Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) reports is not held centrally by the Department. This is because the Department is not a recipient of each PFD report, as some reports are sent directly to the relevant National Health Service trust and/or NHS England.Information on serious incident reports is not held in the format requested.To address the pressures the ambulance service is facing, the NHS has published a delivery plan for recovering emergency care, which aims to deliver one of the fastest and longest sustained improvements in waiting times in history by reducing Category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes next year, with further improvements towards pre-pandemic levels the following year. Backed up by a £1 billion dedicated fund, the plan will include the delivery of 800 new ambulances, including specialist mental health ambulances.

General Practitioners

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners' report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023 published in March 2023, whether his Department plans to develop local retention initiatives for GPs.

Neil O'Brien: NHS England has made available a number of recruitment and retention schemes to boost the general practice (GP) workforce. This includes the Local GP Retention Fund, which helps GPs to stay in the workforce by promoting new ways of working and offering additional support.

General Practitioners: ICT

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices in England use automated (a) appointment reminder messages, (b) consultation booking and, c) triage responses.

Neil O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally.

General Practitioners

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners' report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023 published in March 2023, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Quality and Outcomes Framework in the NHS.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners' report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023 published in March 2023, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of suspending the Quality of Outcomes Framework.

Neil O'Brien: The Government has committed to undertaking a review of the Quality and Outcomes Framework in its current form during 2023/24 with the aim of making it more streamlined and focused. The profession, representative patient groups and the broader system will be consulted to determine the most appropriate form in 2024/25.

General Practitioners: Standards

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of patients with urgent needs who could not be offered an appointment with their GP on the day they asked for it in each of the past 12 months.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not held in the format requested.

Health Services: ICT

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of General Practitioners report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published in March 2023, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of that report's findings on aptitudes on (a) the adequacy of IT suppliers and support services in general practice and (b) the ability of IT systems used in primary care to exchange information with secondary care.

Neil O'Brien: Our plans for general practice (GP) IT were outlined in A Plan for Digital Health and Social Care, published June 2022.We remain committed to ensuring that modern, integrated, flexible and user-friendly digital systems are available to support the evolving needs of patients and GPs through the GP IT Operating Model and Digital Care Services platform.Shared Care Records have been implemented across all 42 integrated care systems in England, connecting National Health Service trusts and GPs. Our goal is for all constituent organisations of an integrated care system to be connected to an integrated life-long health and care record by 2024, enabled by core national capabilities, local health records and shared care records, giving individuals, their approved caregivers and their care teams the ability to view and contribute to the record.

General Practitioners: ICT

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Our plan for patients, published on 22 September 2022, what data his Department holds on the number of GP practices which have automated (a) appointment reminder messages, (b) consultation bookings and (c) triage responses as of March 2023.

Neil O'Brien: The information requested is not collected centrally.

General Practitioners: Standards

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients with urgent needs were unable to see their GP on the day they tried to book an appointment in each of the last twelve months for which data is available.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not held in the format requested.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the triage of patients by the ambulance service.

Will Quince: The triage of ambulance patients is an operational matter for National Health Service ambulance trusts. Accordingly, we have no plans to undertake such a review.

Surgery: Travel

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average distance travelled by patients for operations for elective (a) trauma and (b) orthopaedic surgery, broken down by region.

Will Quince: This information is not held in the format requested.

Mental Health Services: Safety

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to conclude the review into patient safety in mental health inpatient services.

Maria Caulfield: The review into patient safety in mental health inpatient services is expected to conclude in spring 2023.

Paramedical Staff: Retirement

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to reduce the retirement age for paramedics.

Will Quince: The retirement age for members of the 2015 NHS Pension Scheme is linked to their State Pension Age (SPA). The Government has recently confirmed that the SPA will increase from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028 and that there will be a further review within two years of the next Parliament to consider the increase to age 68.An Early Retirement Reduction Buy Out (ERRBO) arrangement is available to ambulance service employees in the 2015 Scheme. This allows members to effectively reduce their normal pension age to 65, while maintaining the value of their pension benefits. Frontline ambulance staff who wish to purchase ERRBO can benefit from a 50% contribution from their employer.The improved accrual rate of 1/54th in the 2015 Scheme means that members are likely to accrue a similar level of pension as they would have achieved in the previous 1995 Section of the NHS Pension Scheme, before age 65.From 1 October 2023, the Department will implement a partial retirement option to the 1995 Section alongside the retirement flexibilities which exist in other sections of the Scheme already. This will allow National Health Service staff to claim a portion of their pension benefits and continue working at a reduced capacity whilst building further pension.

Ophthalmic Services

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a national eye health strategy for England.

Neil O'Brien: We recognise the challenges facing eye care services. In response, the Department and NHS England are already taking a strategic approach. Through the transformation programme, NHS England is considering how eye care services could be commissioned to ensure future sustainability. NHS England has appointed Louisa Wickham as a national clinical director for eyecare to oversee the recovery of eye care services and longer-term transformation. This sits alongside action already being taken to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of sight-threatening conditions.

General Practitioners: Finance

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to provide a funded plan to increase the ability of GP practices to respond to any surges in patient demand.

Neil O'Brien: Our primary care recovery plan is being drafted and will be published in the coming weeks.

Ambulance Services: Coroners

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to review (a) the trends in the level of and (b) reasons for coroner requests for information to his Department relating to ambulance delays (i) nationally, (ii) in Yorkshire and (iii) in the city of York.

Will Quince: The Department has reviewed and assessed each Prevention of Future Deaths report addressed to the Department and has addressed the Coroners’ concerns accordingly.To address the pressures the ambulance service is facing, the National Health Service has published a delivery plan for recovering emergency care, including in Yorkshire and the city of York. This will deliver a reduction in Category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes next year with further improvements towards pre-pandemic levels the following year. Backed up by a £1 billion dedicated fund, the plan will include the delivery of 800 new ambulances including specialist mental health ambulances.

General Practitioners: Conditions of Employment

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take additional steps to reduce (a) workloads and (b) bureaucracy experienced by GPs.

Neil O'Brien: We recognise that high workloads can be a key driver for general practitioners (GPs) reducing their contracted hours or leaving altogether. The expanded primary care teams funded through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme will add extra clinical capacity. ‘Our plan for patients’ allows pharmacies to help ease pressures on GPs and free up time for appointments by managing and supplying more medicines.As part of the 2020/21 GP contract, to reduce administrative tasks and to help maximise the time available for care, the Government committed to a thorough review of levels of bureaucracy in general practice. As part of this work, in August 2022, a cross-Government concordat was published agreeing to seven co-designed principles to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in general practice. The Department continues to work across Government and with the National Health Service to implement the solutions that emerge.

Health Education

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of launching a new education campaign on advising patients on (a) when and how to self-manage illness, (b) when to access their GP and (c) when to access other healthcare services.

Neil O'Brien: Education campaigns in this area will be explored following publication of the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 171374 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, whether she has had any discussions with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the decision not to include learning disabled adults in the Covid-19 spring booster 2023 programme.

Maria Caulfield: Ministers have had no discussions with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on eligibility for the spring 2023 COVID-19 booster programme further to their acceptance of the committee’s advice.

Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Governance and assurance review of the Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust by the Good Governance Institute, published in March 2023.

Maria Caulfield: Whilst we have not made a formal assessment, we announced on 23 January 2023 that we will be conducting a rapid review into mental health inpatient settings, with a specific focus on how we use data and evidence, including complaints, feedback and whistleblowing alerts, to identify risks to safety. NHS England has also commissioned an independent review into the failings within the trust’s services reported at the Edenfield Centre and the failure within the organisation to escalate concerns and mitigate against patient harm. This is expected to conclude by no later than 30 September 2023.

Heart Diseases

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his department has made an assessment of the economic impact of late-stage heart failure; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure people receive an early diagnosis.

Helen Whately: No specific assessment has been made as to economic impact.We have introduced community diagnostic centres, which will support primary care networks to help increase the volume of early diagnostic activity of conditions such as heart failure and heart valve disease and reduce patient waiting times. NHS England is also working with regions and networks to increase access to the Brain Natriuretic Peptide blood test, which will improve the early detection and optimum management of heart failure.Additionally, a new pre-diagnosis breathlessness pathway has been developed to support the improved recognition and timely diagnosis of heart failure and heart valve disease.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason spring booster vaccinations will not be offered to close family members of those acutely vulnerable to covid-19.

Maria Caulfield: The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is to reduce the risk of severe disease across the population. Advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has prioritised the most vulnerable of the clinical risk groups for vaccination in this precautionary COVID-19 booster programme for spring 2023. The programme targets those over the age of 75 years and those who are immunosuppressed. Household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals were eligible in the autumn/winter 2022-23 booster programme. Protection against severe COVID-19 disease does persist for some months, as shown in analyses of real-world data, and previously considered by JCVI. This data is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reportsVaccination does not significantly limit transmission, so there is no strong reason to prioritise vaccination for family members of those who are at high risk of severe illness.

Mental Capacity

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a timetable for the introduction of Liberty Protection Safeguards.

Helen Whately: The implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) has been delayed beyond the life of this Parliament. We will therefore not be publishing a timetable for the introduction of the LPS at this time

Antivirals Taskforce

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to disband the antivirals taskforce.

Will Quince: In line with the Government’s strategy of living with COVID-19, the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce closed on 31 March 2023. Ongoing functions were transferred to other teams across the Department and the wider healthcare system, in line with wider responsibilities for research, regulation and deployment of medicines.The National Health Service will continue to oversee treatment of COVID-19 patients and will operate in line with evidence-based recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, following the established processes in this area.

Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to improve patient safety within mental health hospitals following the events at Edenfield Centre.

Maria Caulfield: The Department is conducting a rapid review, chaired by Dr Geraldine Strathdee, into patient safety in mental health inpatient services, which is anticipated to last for approximately two to three months. The review will focus on what data and evidence is currently available to the healthcare system, including information provided by patients and families, and how this data and evidence can be used more effectively to identify patient safety risks and failures in care.NHS England has also established a three-year quality improvement programme which seeks to tackle the root causes of unsafe, poor-quality inpatient care in mental health, learning disability and autism settings. We will continue to work closely with colleagues in NHS England to make sure the rapid review is aligned with and complementary to this programme.

Mental Health Services: Safety

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of safety within mental health hospitals following reports from Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.

Maria Caulfield: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has advised that it is reviewing the information it holds on the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust to identify whether further action is needed to ensure people are safe. Action may include further inspection or enforcement action should it find evidence that people using this service are not receiving safe care and treatment. A report will be published in due course.CQC continues to gather and review all intelligence and information held about the trust overall to inform any additional regulatory activity that may be required. The rating of the wards providing care for people with learning disabilities and autistic people has been suspended and CQC will review the rating once its inspection is complete.More widely, the Department is conducting a rapid review into patient safety in mental health inpatient services, which is anticipated to last for approximately two to three months. The review will focus on what data and evidence is currently available to the healthcare system, including information provided by patients and families, and how this data and evidence can be used more effectively to identify patient safety risks and failures in care.

Autism: Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of suitability of the use of mental health hospitals for individuals with autism.

Maria Caulfield: Section 20 of the Mental Health Act Code of Practice sets out considerations for the detention of autistic people in mental health hospitals under the Act, including on their suitability. We have developed policies based on these considerations.To reduce overall reliance on mental health inpatient care for autistic people and people with a learning disability, we published the Building the Right Support Action Plan in July 2022. This Plan brings together, in one place, actions across Government and public services to strengthen community support, along with actions to ensure that, when someone would benefit from admission to a mental health hospital, they receive therapeutic, high-quality care and remain in hospital for the shortest time possible.The Plan includes our proposed Mental Health Act reforms to help improve support for autistic people and people with a learning disability and to end inappropriate detentions. The proposals limit the scope for detaining autistic people and people with a learning disability under the Act and place new duties on commissioners to ensure that there are sufficient community-based services for those at risk of admission.Additionally, NHS England are working to support integrated care systems to develop sensory-friendly environments for autistic people with the publication of a sensory-friendly resource pack in October 2022. The pack is intended to support local systems to address issues raised about non-sensory-friendly environments impacting on care quality for autistic children and adults. The pack has been co-produced with people with lived experience, family carers, and clinicians.

Genomics

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to help improve genomic testing and care in the UK.

Will Quince: The NHS Genomic Medicine Service was launched in 2018 to support standardised, high quality and equitable access to genomic medicine across the National Health Service in England. Since then, significant progress has been made to improve genomic testing and care. This includes the establishment of a national network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs to deliver testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory, which outlines the full range of genomic testing offered by the NHS, including tests for 3,200 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications.The NHS now offers several world-leading services. It is the first health care system in the world to systematically offer whole genome sequencing (WGS) as part of routine care, and it has launched a rapid WGS service for acutely unwell children with a likely monogenic disorder and a world-leading National Fetal Exome Sequencing Service.The NHS also has an important role in delivering a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service for patients of all ages and their families, who have, or are at risk of having, a rare genetic and genomic condition, including inherited cancer.Last year, in October 2022, NHS England published the first NHS Genomics Strategy, ‘Accelerating Genomic Medicine in the NHS’, which outlines the future vision for embedding genomics in the NHS over the next five years.

General Practitioners

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings on concerns of general practice staff on delivering adequate level of care in winter 2023 in the Royal College of General Practitioners report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published in March 2023, what steps he is taking to ensure that staff in general practice can deliver adequate levels of care in winter 2023.

Neil O'Brien: We are expanding general practice (GP) teams through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme in order to create 50 million more appointments a year by 2024 and free up GPs’ time for work that only they can do. Since 2019, we have recruited over 25,000 additional staff into GPs, covering a range of roles, for example clinical pharmacists.In the 2023/24 changes to the GP contract, we have also taken steps to streamline the Impact and Investment Fund (IIF). The remaining £246 million of the IIF will be entirely focused on improving patient experience. £172.2 million (70%) will be provided as a monthly payment to Primary Care Networks through the Capacity and Access Support Payment, and the remaining £73.8 million (30%) will be allocated by integrated care boards, according to assessment against locally agreed access improvement plans.

Epilepsy: Cannabis

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce cannabis treatment on the NHS for people with Dravet Syndrome.

Will Quince: The licensed cannabis-based medicine Epidyolex is prescribed and routinely funded by the National Health Service for people with Dravet syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex. This follows approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the number of (a) coroner and (b) serious incidence reports that have cited (i) ambulance delays to see a patient and (ii) waits outside of hospital in an ambulance as factors in (A) England, (B) Yorkshire and (C) York, in the latest year for which data is available.

Will Quince: The publication of Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) reports, and the Department’s response, is a matter for the Chief Coroner under the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013. Reports are published by the Chief Coroner at the following link:https://www.judiciary.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/office-chief-coroner/https-www-judiciary-uk-subject-community-health-care-and-emergency-services-related-deaths/The total number of PFD reports is not held centrally by the Department. This is because the Department is not a recipient of all reports, as some reports are sent directly to the relevant National Health Service trust and/or NHS England. Similarly, the information requested on serious incident reports is not held in the format requested.Information on patient safety incidents, including those relating to ambulance services, is published by NHS England as part of the National Reporting and Learning System. This does not specifically include a category of waits outside a hospital but does include safety incidents relating to ‘Access, admission, transfer, discharge (including missing patient)’. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/national-patient-safety-incident-reports/

Mental Health Services: Safety

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement in Written Ministerial Statement UIN HCWS512 on 23 January 2023 of a rapid review into patient safety in mental health inpatient settings in England, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of widening that review.

Maria Caulfield: We have no plans to widen the rapid review. However, the review itself does not preclude any future inquiries, should the Government believe it appropriate to pursue them.

Mental Health Services: Safety

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement in Written Ministerial Statement UIN HCWS512 on 23 January 2023 of a rapid review into patient safety in mental health inpatient settings in England, whether funding has been allocated for the collation of new data as part of that review.

Maria Caulfield: No such funding has been allocated. We will await the findings from the rapid review before any next steps are determined.

Down's Syndrome: Maternity Services

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people who give birth to a child with Down's syndrome are provided with adequate maternity care.

Maria Caulfield: Women who give birth to a child with Down syndrome need maternity care that is tailored to the needs of the woman and those of her baby. The National Health Service, through its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, is committed to listening to each woman and offering her a Personalised Care and Support Plan.The Down Syndrome Act 2022, which received Royal Assent in April 2022, requires my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to publish guidance for relevant authorities across health, social care, education, and housing on practical steps that organisations should take to meet the needs of people with Down syndrome. By setting out in guidance the steps it would be appropriate for health authorities to take when providing services and support to people with Down syndrome and their families, we believe there will be a wider positive impact for expectant parents who are told their unborn baby may have Down syndrome.

Department of Health and Social Care: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 166164 on Government Departments: Staff, what the overall rating out of 100 recorded was in the most recent Leesman office surveys undertaken by (a) NHS England, (b) the UK Health and Security Agency and (c) the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Will Quince: Subsequent to the Leesman office surveys undertaken by the Government Property Agency in their hubs during November 2022, the following table shows the overall rating out of 100 provided by the staff based in the specified offices:Office locationLeesman overall rating out of 100NHS England (based in 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham)78UK Health Security Agency (based in 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham and Nobel House, London)65Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (based in 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham)68

Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Children

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 97701 on Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Children, what recent discussions his Department has had with JCVI’s respiratory syncytial virus subcommittee on whether SMA type 1 patients should be added as an eligible cohort to receive a palivizumab vaccination.

Maria Caulfield: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are currently reviewing evidence around newly available products and the potential to expand upon the current respiratory syncytial virus immunisation offer, which includes those with SMA type 1. Once JCVI provide its advice, the Department will work alongside the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England to look at options for implementing accordingly.

Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the suitability of the data that is collected on NHS funded mental health inpatient services.

Maria Caulfield: Mental health data, including data on inpatient services funded by the National Health Service, are kept under regular review by NHS England and are subject to ongoing improvement. This includes a focus on improving data quality, and identifying and publishing key metrics, with the aim of monitoring both the activity within services and the quality of care delivered.In addition, the rapid review we are conducting into mental health inpatient settings has a specific focus on how we use data and evidence, including complaints, feedback, and whistleblowing alerts, to identify risks to safety.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 128616 on Members: Correspondence, if his Department will resend the response of 25 January 2023 to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare.

Maria Caulfield: The initial response was sent out on 26 January 2023. We have resent the response on 30 March 2023.

Electronic Cigarettes: Children

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential health risks of e-cigarettes for children.

Neil O'Brien: The Department’s assessment of the risk of vaping is based upon a series of evidence reviews commissioned over the past several years. The latest, ‘Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence main findings’, was published in September 2022.The report concludes that in the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking, but that vaping is not risk-free. Nicotine is highly addictive and can be harmful, and there are unanswered questions on the effects of longer-term use.The Government is clear that vaping should only be used to help adults quit smoking; vapes should not be used by people under 18 or non-smokers.

Carers: Children

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to people who (a) fall ill and (b) have an accident and are a primary carer for a vulnerable child.

Helen Whately: The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable high-quality care and support services, including support for unpaid carers. Local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from the carer.Under the Children Act 1989 and Children and Families’ Act 2014 local authorities are required to assess and support the needs of parents of and carers for children as well as those with Special Educational Needs or a disability. Since April 2015, every young carer is also entitled to an assessment to ensure they get the support they need.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy to maintain the prescription waiver for anti-virals for people who are clinically vulnerable and extremely vulnerable to covid-19.

Will Quince: We have no plans to maintain this prescription charge waiver. The waiver was introduced in December 2021 and was extended to remain in force until 31 March 2023.Approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge and there are a range of exemptions from prescription charges for which those in need of COVID-19 medicines may meet the eligibility criteria. Additionally, those on a low income who do not qualify for an exemption may be eligible for assistance with prescription charges through the NHS Low Income Scheme.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to disband the Covid-19 Enhanced Protection Panel.

Maria Caulfield: There is no COVID-19 Enhanced Protection Panel. Those who remain at higher risk from COVID-19 remain a priority for the Government and will continue to be offered enhanced protections such as treatments, booster vaccines, free lateral flow tests and public health advice. The small internal team within the Department that provided a time limited coordinating function for activity to support this group closed on 31 March 2023. Different parts of the UK Health Security Agency, the Department and NHS England will continue to provide the enhanced protection programme of work and patients will not see any difference in the advice they receive, or their treatment.

NHS: Discrimination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of training provided to NHS staff on dignity at work.

Will Quince: Staff training is provided and monitored locally, by employers. The underlying statutory duty to ensure staff are safe and protected under health and safety law rests with the employer, and we are committed to supporting trusts and systems to fulfil that duty.

Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to increase (a) early diagnosis and (b) effective treatment of (i) Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome and (ii) Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections; and what steps his Department are taking to increase awareness of these conditions among medical professionals.

Maria Caulfield: The Department has no plans to do so at present. Should the evidence base develop further, clinical policy may be updated by relevant organisations such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NHS England would then consider the development of care pathways for those living with paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome and paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. In the meantime, integrated care systems are responsible for planning care for their populations. Medical professionals, such as general practitioners, are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.

Surgical Hubs

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of the locations of (a) active and (b) planned surgical hubs.

Will Quince: In August 2022, the Department published a list of 91 hubs operational across England, as well as several new hub investments. This list is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-50-new-surgical-hubs-set-to-open-across-england-to-help-bust-the-covid-backlogs.Currently only 87 of these are in operation in England and 57 new surgical hubs have been proposed, of which 37 have received an NHS England approved business case, announced in February 2023.The number of operational surgical hubs is in the process of being audited and a revised figure is expected to be updated in due course.

NHS: Labour Turnover

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the retention of staff in the NHS.

Will Quince: The NHS People Plan and People Promise set out a comprehensive range of actions to improve staff retention. They provide a strong focus on creating a more modern, compassionate and inclusive National Health Service culture by strengthening health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and flexible working.NHS priorities and operational planning guidance 2023/24 has asked systems to refresh their 2022/23 whole system workforce plans to improve staff retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise. Staff wellbeing should be strategically aligned with elective recovery plans, including workforce demand and capacity planning.In addition, the NHS Retention Programme is continuously seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well. A staff retention guide has been updated and includes information on supporting staff in their late and early career with specific focus on induction, reward and recognition and menopause support.

Ambulance Services: Yorkshire and the Humber

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patient safety incident reports, reported on by Yorkshire Ambulance Service, were made by (a) GPs and (b) other non-Yorkshire Ambulance Service clinicians which related to delayed Yorkshire Ambulance Service responses to 999 calls in each of the last three years.

Will Quince: This information is not held in the format requested.

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times (a) he and (b) other Ministers from his Department have met with the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation since September 2022.

Maria Caulfield: My predecessor, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Public Health, the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham, met with representatives of the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust on 6 October 2022.

NHS: Mental Health

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department collects data on the mental health of NHS staff.

Will Quince: NHS England does not hold or gather data on the mental health of National Health Service staff nationally. Rather, this is held at a local level, for example with occupational health teams.

Mental Health Services: Expenditure

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much NHS England spent on inpatient services commissioned from providers with (a) requires improvement and (b) inadequate Care Quality Commission ratings in the last 12 months.

Maria Caulfield: This information is neither collected nor held centrally.

Dental Services: Fees and Charges

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the April 2023 increases in NHS dental charges on (a) patients and (b) dentists.

Neil O'Brien: The uplift of National Health Service dental charges by 8.5% from 24 April 2023 will raise important revenue for pressurised NHS budgets and NHS dental services following COVID-19 restrictions. The qualifying criteria for the range of exemptions to NHS dental charges and support through the low-income scheme remain unchanged. Just under half of NHS dental patients were treated free of charge in the 2021/22 financial year.

NHS 111

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the average wait time for a 111 call in each of the last 12 months.

Will Quince: Average NHS 111 call answer times in England in the last 12 months are displayed in the table below.MonthAverage time to answer NHS 111 call (seconds)Feb-22267Mar-22396Apr-22368May-22226Jun-22380Jul-22394Aug-22411Sep-22195Oct-22366Nov-22388Dec-221496Jan-23286Source: NHS England Integrated Urgent Care Aggregate Data Collection

Mental Health Services: Safety

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the existing data sets that will be considered within the rapid review of patient safety in mental health inpatient services.

Maria Caulfield: The terms of reference for the rapid review of patient safety in mental health inpatient services state that the review will consider data and evidence collected by national and regional bodies and local systems on mental health inpatient services funded by the National Health Service, including complaints, user voice and whistleblowing alerts. The terms of reference do not specify a list of datasets for the review to consider. The full terms of reference are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/terms-of-reference-for-rapid-review-into-data-on-mental-health-inpatient-settings/terms-of-reference-for-rapid-review-into-data-on-mental-health-inpatient-settings

Dentistry: Registration

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of (a) the average time taken by the General Dental Council to process a new application for registration and (b) the number of applications for registration made (i) in 2022 (ii) before 2022 are yet to receive a decision.

Neil O'Brien: No specific estimate has been made, as the Department does not centrally hold data on the status of applications made to join the General Dental Council’s (GDC) register. This data is held by the GDC themselves as the relevant independent regulator.The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) is responsible for overseeing the work of the healthcare professional regulators. As part of this oversight role, the PSA carries out annual reviews of the regulators’ performance which includes registration processing times. The PSA’s most recent review of the GDC is available at the following link:https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/publications/performance-review-detail/periodic-review-gdc-2021-22

Pregnancy: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for the opening of specialised NHS medical centres for women during pregnancy.

Maria Caulfield: As of December 2022, all 14 Maternal Medicine Networks reported that they were operational, meaning all women in England with high-risk medical conditions can access care from the 17 open Maternal Medicine Centres, when required. The majority of maternal medicine problems will continue to be managed locally.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the serious incidences reported by Yorkshire Ambulance Service in each of the last two years; what information his Department holds on the lessons learned following those incidences; and what steps his Department has put in place to help address those within the NHS.

Will Quince: Whilst the Department holds no specific information about lessons learned from serious incidents reported by Yorkshire Ambulance Service in the last two years, these incidents should be closed by the relevant commissioner when they are satisfied that the investigation report and action plan meet the required standard. This ensures that the fundamental purpose of investigation, which is to ensure that lessons can be learnt to prevent similar incidents recurring, is realised.NHS England published the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework in August 2022. It replaces the Serious Incident Framework and fundamentally shifts how the National Health Service responds to patient safety incidents for learning and improvement. All providers are expected to transition to the new framework by Autumn 2023.To address the pressures the ambulance service is facing, the NHS has published a delivery plan for recovering emergency care, which aims to reduce Category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes next year with further improvements towards pre-pandemic levels the following year. Backed up by a £1 billion dedicated fund, the plan will include the delivery of 800 new ambulances including specialist mental health ambulances.

General Practitioners: ICT

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to increase funding for new IT systems and technology for GP practices to improve (a) booking systems and (b) the exchange of information with secondary care providers.

Neil O'Brien: It is up to general practices (GPs) how they manage their own appointment booking systems to meet the reasonable needs of their patients.NHS England has commissioned the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to undertake a review of the clinical interface between GP and hospital services. The final report is expected soon and will be considered by the Department.

Alfred Bean Hospital: Standards

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) increase the range and (b) improve the standard of services available at Alfred Bean Hospital in Driffield; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: Alfred Bean Hospital is part of Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust’s long-term estates strategy. The trust’s core goal is to maximise the use of the range of services available on site.It is important to the trust that optimal space planning is structured in a way that will ensure maximum benefit for people across Driffield and the surrounding areas. The trust is working closely with the League of Friends, Driffield Healthy Town Group, and local commissioners to ensure the site is a continued priority.

NHS: Labour Turnover

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to provide additional and funded NHS staff retention schemes.

Will Quince: The National Health Service Retention Programme is continuously seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well.In 2022/23, the programme focused on five High Impact Areas which aimed to improve support for people experiencing menopause, a focus on flexible working, the roll out of a self-assessment tool and targeted interventions around later and early careers such as the preceptorship programme and legacy mentoring. In addition, the programme offered tailored support to systems and launched a pilot programme for 23 trusts across England to implement bundles of interventions aligned to all elements of the People Promise.In 2023/24, NHS England will continue to provide support to the five High Impact Areas, direct support to systems and continue to build evidence from the 23 exemplar sites to share best practice across the country.

Dentistry

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists were registered in each year since 2003.

Neil O'Brien: The Department does not hold this data centrally. The General Dental Council (GDC), as the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals practising in the United Kingdom, is responsible for holding and maintaining the register of dental professionals qualified to practise dentistry.The GDC publishes registration reports on its website which provide statistical data on the registration of dentists and dental care professionals from the GDC’s registers, including the total number of registrants. Reports from January 2018 onwards are available at the following link:https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us/what-we-do/the-registers/registration-reportsRegistration data prior to 2018 is available from the GDC on request.

NHS England: Public Appointments

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will carry out a review of the necessary and desirable qualifications for the role of Chair of NHS England.

Will Quince: We have no specific plans to carry out such a review.

Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to conducting the rapid review into mental health services inpatient services.

Maria Caulfield: The funding for the rapid review has been provided through the Department’s running costs, and as such it cannot be separately identified.

NHS England: Risk Assessment

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role the Chair of NHS England has played in risk assessment for the NHS since his appointment.

Will Quince: The Chair of NHS England oversees the Board as the senior decision-making structure for NHS England. The Board sets the strategy and overall direction of NHS England, within the context of the National Health Service mandate from Government, overseeing delivery of the agreed strategy, the approach to risk, and establishing the culture and values of the organisation.The Board has delegated some of its duties and responsibilities to Board Committees, which provide regular assurance to the Board on specific areas delegated to them and, by exception, escalate issues that merit full Board discussion and decision. They are led by non-executive directors and include the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, which meets five times per year and reviews and monitors the integrity of the financial statements, financial and regulatory compliance, the systems of internal and control and the external and internal audit process. In accordance with good corporate governance, the Chair of NHS England is not a Member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

Credit Suisse: Takeovers

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the takeover of Credit Suisse in the context of the role of Richard Meddings as (a) a member of the board of directors and (b) chair of the risk committee at Credit Suisse.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made.

Ovarian Cancer: Diagnosis

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to provide support to GPs to improve the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Neil O'Brien: NHS England is supporting general practices (GPs) to diagnose more cancers early by making funding available to embed clinical decision support tools within GPs. These tools are designed to support GPs in clinical decision making, such as whether to refer or request further diagnostic investigation in patients where they believe there is a risk of cancer, and identifying patients who may be at risk based on their symptoms.In April 2020, NHS England introduced the ‘early cancer diagnosis service specification’ for Primary Care Networks. The specification is designed to support improvements in rates of early diagnosis, including ovarian cancer, by requiring Primary Care Networks to review the quality of referrals for suspected cancer and take steps to improve them.

Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 166116 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, what the accountability relationship is between his Department and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA); and for what reason his Department cannot obtain information requested by hon. Members from the NHSBSA.

Maria Caulfield: The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is an arm’s length body of the Department and is accountable thereto for its performance, with the relationship between the Department and NHSBSA being set out in a Framework Document. Accountability meetings are held regularly for each of its services, and a quarterly accountability meeting takes place which looks across the whole of NHSBSA’s business.NHSBSA updates all claimants directly on the progress of individual claims. Claimants may also provide details of a nominated person with authority to act on their behalf to receive updates on their claim, by providing written confirmation to the NHSBSA. This process ensures sensitive information is protected in line with General Data Protection Regulation and remains confidential; NHSBSA distributing the information to the Department to pass onto a third party, such as hon. Members at their request, would break the confidentiality of this system.

Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 166115 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, what steps his Department has taken in response to safety concerns about Covid-19 vaccinations as a result of the 23 successful claims in respect of deaths recorded by Coroners as having been caused by a Covid-19 vaccination.

Maria Caulfield: Vaccine safety remains at the forefront of the COVID-19 vaccine programme. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has a robust safety surveillance strategy in place for monitoring the safety of all COVID-19 vaccines approved in the United Kingdom. This includes closely considering all coroners' reports sent to MHRA that list vaccination as a possible contributing factor of death. Coroners' verdicts are part of the wide range of evidence continuously gathered and analysed by MHRA, including self-reporting tools such as the Yellow Card Reporting Scheme.Should any information indicate a possible new safety concern, the system is well placed to rapidly and thoroughly investigate this, with advice for healthcare professionals and patients updated where appropriate.

Dental Services: North West

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many appointments for dental extractions by sedation were available in Cheshire and Wirral in the latest period for which data is available.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not held centrally.

Blood and Organs: Donors

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2023 to Question 170758 on Blood: Ethnic Groups, which languages literature relating to NHS blood and transplant donations is available in.

Neil O'Brien: NHS Blood and Transplant produces literature relating to donations in various languages including Welsh, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Urdu, Arabic, Somali, Polish, Romanian, French, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hebrew, and Yiddish.

NHS: Occupational Health

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to ensure the provision of wellbeing services to support the (a) physical and (b) mental health of (i) NHS staff and (ii) people contracted to undertake NHS work.

Will Quince: The Government is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff.NHS planning guidance for 2023/24 emphasised the need to support staff and has asked systems to refresh their workforce plans to improve staff experience and retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise.The NHS People Plan and People Promise set out a comprehensive range of actions to strengthen health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and increase opportunities for flexible working.NHS England has developed a range of health and wellbeing initiatives, which include a wellbeing guardian role, a focus on healthy working environments, empowering line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their wellbeing, and a comprehensive emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support package.NHS England has also published a ‘Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing Together’ strategy. This sets out a roadmap for the NHS and partner organisations to work together to develop and invest in occupational health and wellbeing services for NHS staff over the next five years.

Health Services: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the implementation of the delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services; and whether the plan is being delivered on schedule.

Will Quince: The Department and NHS England are working closely together to ensure robust governance arrangements are in place to support the implementation of the plan. Good progress has been made and work is ongoing to deliver the interventions ahead of next winter.

Dental Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the closure of the 85 BUPA dental practices on the provision of dentistry in (a) York and (b) the UK.

Neil O'Brien: Following BUPA’s notice to NHS England of closures, regional teams and integrated care boards across England are working together to ensure that patients continue to have access to National Health Service dental care. This includes an assessment to identify potential gaps in NHS dental service provision and to consider what actions may be required.NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients.State-funded healthcare within the United Kingdom but outside of England is a devolved matter and the responsibility of the devolved Governments.

NHS: Pay

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on reaching a pay agreement for NHS staff.

Will Quince: After constructive talks with health unions on 16 March, the Government put forward a best and final offer for more than one million National Health Service staff on the Agenda for Change contract. We are pleased that the Royal College of Nursing, UNISON, GMB, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the British Dietetic Association unions have said they will recommend the offer to their members.We are disappointed that the British Medical Association (BMA) have announced further strike action.  Further strikes will risk patient safety and cause further disruption. The BMA have made the Government making a commitment to delivering a 35% pay increase a pre-condition of them entering into talks on pay. This is unreasonable. Our door remains open to constructive conversations, as we have had with other health unions, to find a realistic way forward which balances rewarding doctors and dentists in training for their hard work while being fair to the taxpayer.

Dentistry: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists there were in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in the last (i) three, (ii) six, (iii) 12 and (iv) 24 months.

Neil O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally.

Isotretinoin: Side Effects

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the review by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on Isotretinoin: an expert review of suspected psychiatric and sexual side effects, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing redress for people who have experienced severe side effects from isotretinoin.

Will Quince: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) obtains independent advice from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM). The Isotretinoin Expert Working Group was convened by CHM to evaluate the latest data on risk of psychiatric adverse reactions and sexual dysfunction suspected to be associated with the use of isotretinoin and to consider whether regulatory action is required to minimise risks or raise awareness of the risks. The report of this review will be published shortly, and more information on the working group is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/isotretinoin-an-expert-review-of-suspected-psychiatric-and-sexual-side-effects The matter of redress sat outside the scope of the expert review and is also outside the remit of MHRA. Our primary focus currently is on improving future medicines and medical devices safety.

Dental Services: Staff

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of directly employing all dental support staff working in dental surgeries through the NHS.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of employing dental support staff as full time NHS employees.

Neil O'Brien: No assessment has been made.

Social Services: Recruitment

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on the Made with Care recruitment campaign; and how many care workers were recruited through that campaign as of 28 March 2023.

Helen Whately: The amount spent on the Department’s 2022/23 adult social care recruitment campaign ‘Made with Care’ is £3,800,000.Information on the amount of care workers recruited via this campaign is not collected centrally.

Ophthalmic Services

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to improve access to eye care services in (a) North Durham (b) all Integrated Health Board areas.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure all NHS commissioners offer primary care optometrists the opportunity to provide Minor Eye Care Services across England.

Neil O'Brien: In England, integrated care boards are responsible for the planning and commissioning of services to meet local needs. This includes decisions on whether to commission locally enhanced services from primary eye care providers, such as minor eye conditions services. NHS England’s transformation programme is also considering how eye care services could be commissioned for the future, this includes considering a greater role for primary eye care providers.In the Autumn Statement, the Department committed to an additional £3.3 billion per year until 2024/25 to respond to significant pressures facing the National Health Service. This is on top of the £8 billion already committed until 2025 to reduce waiting times across specialisms, including for ophthalmology.

Disease Control

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that learning from (a) the Mpox and (b) other outbreaks is used to inform long-term healthcare (i) policy and (ii) practices.

Maria Caulfield: The UK Health Security Agency is assessing both the successes and issues arising from the response to mpox. We are also working with partners in Government, academia and industry to understand the findings from evaluation of COVID-19 policies and exercises and identify lessons that can be learned for future incidents.We will build these lessons into the design and implementation of future policy and practice, and the Centre for Pandemic Preparedness is tracking them to ensure that improvement actions are taken.

Arthritis: Diagnosis

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking ensure the early diagnosis of people with arthritis.

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people with arthritis who are waiting for elective surgery.

Helen Whately: NHS England is working to ensure and improve early diagnosis of people with arthritis, as well as treatment and care, through the Getting it Right First Time rheumatology programme. The programme published a national report on rheumatology in 2021, which makes a series of recommendations to support equitable and consistent access to diagnostic tests. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance to support early diagnosis of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package. The National Health Service has also published resources on the My Planned Care website to support arthritis patients waiting for hip and knee surgery to maintain their health and wellbeing and to be ready for surgery when it arrives. The website is available at the following link: https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/care-support/

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of families expected to be on the Healthy Start Scheme in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

Neil O'Brien: We have no current plans to make a specific estimate.

NHS: Discrimination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number and proportion of NHS staff reporting (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) discrimination in each NHS provider trust in the last five years; and what steps he is taking to tackle (i) bullying, (ii) harassment and (iii) discrimination.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of bullying in the NHS have been successfully challenged in Employment Tribunals in the latest period for which data is available.

Will Quince: NHS England does not currently have a national mechanism to capture data on the number of National Health Service staff who report bullying, harassment and discrimination; this is held at local level. NHS England also does not hold data on cases challenged in Employment tribunals.The underlying statutory duty to ensure staff are safe and protected under health and safety law rests with the employer, and we are committed to supporting trusts and systems to fulfil that duty. However, there are questions related to these topics within the NHS annual national staff survey, which is self-reported data for around 636,000 staff. This data is publicly available for all trusts at the following link:www.nhsstaffsurveys.comThe NHS People Plan and People Promise set a vision that places a compassionate and inclusive culture at the heart of the NHS and emphasise that all NHS employees and employers are responsible for tackling bullying and harassment. NHS England have developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme which aims to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS and to create positive workplace cultures of civility and respect which will improve staff experience, and ultimately patient care outcomes.

Pharmacy

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to help increase the use of community pharmacies for (a) detection, (b) prevention and (c) other services; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2019-24 five-year deal commits £2.592 billion per year to the sector and outlines a joint vision for how community pharmacy will be more integrated into the National Health Service, deliver more clinical services and become the first port of call for minor illnesses. We have commissioned a range of services through the CPCF; for example, NHS 111 and GPs can refer patients to community pharmacies for advice and treatment for minor illnesses. NHS 111 can also refer for urgent medicines supply. Many pharmacies now also offer blood pressure checks.In September last year we announced the agreement for the remainder of the five-year deal, which includes a further one-off investment in the sector of £100 million. This agreement continues the expansion of the services offered by community pharmacies by enabling community pharmacists to manage and initiate contraception and enabling urgent and emergency care settings to refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation or for an urgent medicine supply. We continue to discuss with the sector what more community pharmacies could sustainably do, making use of their valuable clinical skills for the benefit of patients and the NHS.

Bootham Park Hospital

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the cost to NHS Property Services of Bootham Park Hospital since that hospital closed.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to make the building at Bootham Park Hospital available for use by public services.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing Bootham Park Hospital for use as housing for refugees.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with NHS Property Services on the future use of Bootham Park Hospital.

Will Quince: The combined holding costs to NHS Property Services (NHSPS) and the local health system for the former Bootham Park Hospital site from 2017 to date have totalled £2,636,808. These costs are for the entire site, part of which remains in occupancy, and includes security, utilities, site and waste management.The former Bootham Park Hospital was declared surplus to healthcare requirements by the then local Clinical Commissioning Group in 2016 and the site was vacated by the National Health Service, with the exception of the separate chapel building, in late 2017. The property was subsequently occupied by the NHSPS facilities management team, with the majority of the main building mothballed, and was then prepared for marketing and sale by NHSPS to release the health system from the considerable ongoing costs of managing this property, which is classified as a heritage asset.NHSPS’s current assessment is that the costs of returning the property to any form of operational healthcare use would be very significant given the current estimate for backlog maintenance and operating costs.An initial proposed sale did not proceed, and the site was remarketed with the new prospective purchaser developing a scheme and obtaining planning permission for a 172-unit retirement village, which was approved by City of York Council in February 2023. As it is a heritage asset, this matter is now referred to the Secretary of State for the Department of Housing, Levelling Up and Communities to consider, on which a decision is expected shortly, and this will establish beneficial planning consents. Recently, NHSPS has been informed that the prospective site purchaser has withdrawn from the sale contract and the site will therefore shortly be remarketed.Whilst the former Bootham Park Hospital has been declared surplus to healthcare requirements, if other public sector bodies wish to facilitate the delivery of alternative public services from the building, they would be able to register their interest and make an offer. This will be assessed by NHSPS through the process for sale of surplus assets in accordance with requirements set out in HM Treasury guidance on Managing Public Money and Disposal of Heritage Assets.

Members: Correspondence

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to reply to the email of 31 January 2023 from the hon. Member for Rochdale relating to accident and emergency departments.

Will Quince: I replied to the hon. Member on 29 March 2023.

Unispace Global: Contracts

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, whether his Department sought legal advice on the potential implications of novating a contract from a limited company to a limited liability partnership.

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the reasons cited for the novation of PPE contracts from Unispace Global Ltd to Sante Global LLP.

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 120948 on Unispace Global: Contracts, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential tax implications of the novation of the contracts from a limited company to a limited liability partnership.

Will Quince: Legal advice was not sought by the Department on the change in legal structure of the counterparties to the contracts nor of the potential tax implications of the novation of the contracts as this did not affect the terms of the contracts, including the payments to be made by the Department or the supply of products to the Department.Under the change of structure, Unispace Global Ltd was acquired by Unispace Health Products LLP, which changed its name to Sante Global LLP shortly afterwards. A novation agreement was entered into to change the counterparty to the contracts, where the new counterparty agreed to perform all of the present and future obligations of the contracts.

Department for Business and Trade

Hospitality Industry: Cost of Living and VAT

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the viability of businesses in the hospitality sector, in the context of (a) the rates of VAT applicable to them and (b) increases in the cost of (i) living and (ii) energy; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Hollinrake: My Department regularly engages with businesses in the hospitality sector and is actively working with Hospitality Sector Council to support businesses with the costs they face.The Government introduced a temporary reduced rate of VAT for hospitality on 15 July 2020 to support businesses that were severely affected by COVID-19. This relief ended on 31 March 2022. At the Autumn Statement 2022 the Chancellor brought forward a package of changes to business rates worth £13.6bn to businesses over the next 5 years.This is in addition to the Energy Bills Relief Scheme, which discounted businesses’ energy bills until 31 March 2023, and the new Energy Bills Discount Scheme.

Small Businesses: Exports

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure Export Support Service is adequately resourced to support small businesses.

Nigel Huddleston: As set out in the Export Strategy, the Export Support Service (ESS) is integral to how we support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and ensuring it is adequately funded and resourced is our priority. The Department for Business and Trade is planning to spend over £200 million, over the Spending Review period, to support SMEs.The ESS provides a range of support and guidance to help SMEs with on-the-ground ex-perts across the globe, and together with our innovative Export Academy, we are ensuring businesses have the knowledge to thrive in international markets.

Small Businesses: Exports

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to increase the proportion of exports from small and medium-sized business.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK’s 5.4 million SMEs are at the centre of our ambition to reach £1 trillion in exports annually by 2030. Our Export Strategy, ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ focuses on the barriers SMEs face, helping them at every stage of exporting.Additionally, we offer SMEs a range of support services. Including ‘Help to Grow,’ which is a unique new proposition from the Department, targeted at helping SMEs from start-ups to scaling-up then exporting across the globe, and The British Business Bank has provided over £12.2bn of finance to over 96,000 small businesses including over 100,000 Start Up loans since 2012.

Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the (a) funding arrangements, (b) governance structures and (c) management structures are for the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

Nigel Huddleston: The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund comprises debt and equity funds in each part of the Northern Powerhouse region. It is funded through pooled European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding from participating Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) matched with a combination of public and private grant and loan contributions from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), and the British Business Bank (BBB). In each case the holding fund is ultimately owned by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.Each sub-fund is run by a private fund manager contracted by the BBB, with a mandate to invest in businesses spread across the region. Finance is provided based on affordability and the merits of the applicant’s business plan.The performance of these fund managers and the distribution of funding is scrutinised by members of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund Strategic Oversight Board, which includes representatives of each participating LEP as well as DBT and DLUHC officials.

Small Businesses: Exports

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the report of the Federation of Small Businesses' entitled Customs Clearance, published 28 March 2023, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of that reports findings on the importance of small firms in boosting exports.

Nigel Huddleston: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to Written PQ 174283 on 4 April.

Trade Agreements: Israel

Mark Jenkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress she has made on negotiation of a free trade agreement with Israel.

Nigel Huddleston: Since launching negotiations between the United Kingdom and Israel last summer for an upgraded, innovation-focused Free Trade Agreement (FTA) we held a first round of negotiations in September 2022 and held technical discussions on the financial services chapter in January this year. The Secretary of State since travelled to Israel in March to meet with the Israeli Economy Minister to evaluate progress towards a modern, ambitious agreement. We are working towards hosting Round Two of negotiations with Israel in spring this year.

Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress he has made on revising the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when a draft of the revised The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 will be published.

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her planned timetable is for the revision of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.

Kevin Hollinrake: The consultation on the new approach to domestic upholstered furniture fire safety is currently being finalised and will be published shortly. The consultation will include draft regulations and will set out a proposed timetable for introducing the new approach.

Trade Agreements: Mexico

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps with her Mexican counterpart to include measures on the mutual recognition of higher education qualifications in a free trade agreement with that country.

Nigel Huddleston: We are looking to enhance our existing trading relationship with Mexico through a modern free trade agreement which secures additional benefits for the whole of the UK. We do not pursue the mutual recognition of higher education qualifications in our trade agreements. However, we will be seeking commitments to facilitate the mutual recognition of professional qualifications such as for architecture and audit. As well as other measures which reduce trade barriers and provide certainty for the UK’s world-leading higher education service suppliers.

Students: Mexico

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with her Mexican counterpart on taking steps to facilitate student exchanges between UK and Mexican students.

Nigel Huddleston: The Secretary of State met with her Mexican counterpart in Mexico City in February. Discussions focused on boosting trade and investment between the United Kingdom and Mexico through the UK’s accession to CPTPP and a new free trade agreement. Facilitating student exchange was not a topic of discussion. However, I am pleased to note that the UK Government’s outward student mobility scheme which was launched in 2021, the Turing Scheme, has already successfully enabled funded organisations to send more than 800 UK students on placements to study and work in Mexico.

Trade Promotion: Small Businesses

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what non-educational funding is available to support small businesses that wish to (a) exhibit and (b) export trade overseas.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is planning to spend over £200 million, over the Spending Review period, to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Financial assistance for businesses is available through the British Business Bank and UK Export Finance.Furthermore, local authorities have been given £2.6 billion over the Spending Review period, through the Shared Prosperity Fund, to provide support – including export help – to businesses in their areas.

Government Departments: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 166164 on Government Departments: Staff, how many and what proportion of respondents to the most recent Leesman office survey undertaken by the (a) Department for International Trade and (b) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (i) agreed and (ii) disagreed with the statements about their main workplace that (A) it enables me to work productively, (B) it supports me sharing ideas and knowledge amongst colleagues, (C) it creates an enjoyable environment to work in, (D) it contributes to a sense of community at work and (E) it's a place I'm proud to bring visitors to.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government Property Agency (GPA) are the landlords of several sites in which ex- Department for International Trade (DIT) and ex-Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) staff are based. To measure employee experience the GPA commission post occupancy surveys in ex-DIT and ex-BEIS locations using Leesman (https://www.leesmanindex.com/).The most recent survey for ex-DIT was run in November 2022 for the Darlington Economic Campus, Feethams House, Stephenson Street, Birmingham and North Gate House, Reading.The most recent survey for ex-BEIS was run from November to December 2022 for the Darlington Economic Campus and Stephenson Street, Birmingham.The results are only accessible to the relevant department and the GPA, and the DIT and BEIS responses to the specified questions are shown in the table.These answers only include responses from Department for International Trade staff and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Energy staff, respectively.QuestionNo. Respondent Agree (figures are aggregate by response of Strongly Agree, Agree or Slightly Agree) No. Respondent Disagree (figures are aggregate by response of Strongly Disagree, Disagree or Slightly Disagree)Department for International Tradeit enables me to work productively65 (68.42%)21(22.10%)it supports me sharing ideas and knowledge amongst colleagues72 (75.79%)9 (9.47%)it creates an enjoyable environment to work in80 (84.21%)11 (11.57%)it contributes to a sense of community at work74 (77.89%)12 (12.63%)it's a place I'm proud to bring visitors to80 (84.21%)3 (3.16%)Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategyit enables me to work productively17 (81%)3 (14%)it supports me sharing ideas and knowledge amongst colleagues12 (60%)4 (20%)it creates an enjoyable environment to work in17 (81%)1 (5%)it contributes to a sense of community at work14 (67%)2 (10%)it's a place I'm proud to bring visitors to18 (90%)0 (0%)Note: Remaining responses neither agreed or disagreed with the statements.

Life Sciences: Overseas Trade

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to increase trade opportunities for the life sciences sector.

Nigel Huddleston: Life Sciences is one of the UK’s top exporting sectors, with £28.1 billion goods exported in 2022. In line with the Export Strategy’s 12-point plan and Board of Trade report on Life Sciences, the department pursues an ambitious and strategic approach to promoting exports. This includes addressing market barriers, global defence of free trade, publishing targeted international sector-specific propositions and delivering focused export campaigns. The department also works closely with our overseas and UK networks and Trade Associations to help businesses identify and exploit export opportunities. These initiatives successfully showcase the UK's life science national strengths to international audiences.

Business: Trade Barriers

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to reduce barriers to global trade for British businesses.

Nigel Huddleston: In addition to our ambitious free trade agreement programme, our latest publicly available figures show that in the year to March 2022, the Department resolved 192 trade barriers in 79 countries; 45 of these alone are estimated to be worth around £5 billion to businesses across the UK over the next five years. In her first 200 days, the Secretary of State knocked down barriers to global markets worth £11 million every day to UK businesses. As a recent example, the Department resolved a barrier worth £6 million allowing honey exports to Saudi Arabia, unlocking new opportunities for British businesses.

Postage Stamps: Prices

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Royal Mail's announcement on the rise of the cost of first class stamps, what steps her Department is taking to ensure Ofcom is fulfilling its responsibility to ensure all USO postal products are affordable for all consumers.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible and affordable universal postal service. However, as the independent regulator of postal services, regulatory decisions are a matter for Ofcom in which Government is not involved. Ofcom’s regulatory framework imposes prices controls, ‘safeguard caps’, on certain second-class products to ensure a basic universal service is available to all at affordable prices. Ofcom will conduct a public consultation in 2023-24 to inform a review of the safeguard caps that should apply from April 2024.

Royal Mail

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Seventh Report of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee of Session 2022–23, HC 1045, whether her Department plans to take steps to ensure Ofcom’s investigation into the Royal Mail (a) takes account of previous years targets and (b) accepts evidence from postal workers.

Kevin Hollinrake: It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification. The Government has no role in Ofcom’s regulatory investigations.

Shipping

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to support maritime companies on attracting investment which helps transform UK ports into centres for manufacturing and assembly.

Nigel Huddleston: As an island nation, the UK’s Ports are a critical element of our national infrastructure. They facilitate the movement of 95% of all seaborne import and export tonnage, simultaneously aiding UK companies to achieve more sustainable, efficient and resilient supply chains, and driving coastal regeneration. We recognise and welcome existing investment flows into the sector. For example, Teesport’s deal to become home to the UK’s first green lithium refiner which will help enable a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles and sustainable energy storage. Investments like these will create new jobs across the country and increase supply chain resilience. As Government we are considering with industry and across departments how to enhance these important contributions through inward investment into new projects; with an emphasis on decarbonisation, and driving prosperity, in line with our commitments to Levelling Up, Freeports and Clean Growth.

Shipping

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she will take to support (a) investment in and (b) exports growth from the maritime sector.

Nigel Huddleston: My department is committed to supporting maritime exports and investment, which represent key pillars of the refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy launched last year and support Government objectives on Levelling Up, Net Zero and security. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) established the Maritime Capability Campaign Office (MCCO), an integral part of UK Defence and Security Exports, to lead cross-Government work in this area in close collaboration with the National Shipbuilding Office and industry. The MCCO takes a strategic approach to its work, focusing on intelligence and global relationships while also supporting the Export Academy and an enhanced presence at major maritime events. Since its launch, the 10-year pipeline of maritime exports and investment opportunities being actively managed by the DBT has grown by more than 15%; growth in the civil maritime pipeline has been particularly strong growing by more than £5bn across vessels, technology, ports and services.

Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

Nigel Huddleston: The 2022 interim evaluation of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) found the fund had increased productivity, employment and skills across the North of England. Of the businesses surveyed, 73% had increased workforce skills, and 62% reported additional investment in research and development. In total 6,071 new jobs have been created through the fund – almost 1,000 more than originally planned. For 68% of surveyed businesses, the NPIF investment had funded the development of new products or services. Of these, 48% said their innovations would reduce carbon emissions, and 42% said they would improve health or the delivery of health services.

Events Industry: Departmental Responsibilities

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which Minister in her Department has responsibility for the (a) events and (b) business meeting sector.

Nigel Huddleston: The details of ministerial portfolios in the Department for Business and Trade will be published shortly and will then be found on: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-and-trade

Public Health: Working Hours

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to educate (a) workers and (b) businesses on ways to reduce negative health impacts of night-time work.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Working Time Regulations provide specific protections to night workers. Before someone starts working at night, they must be offered a free health assessment to see if they are fit to work nights before they become a night worker and on a regular basis after that. A record of this must be kept by the employer. Employers must also make sure that night time workers do not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. Employers can make collective or workforce agreements to change or exclude this limit.

Flexible Working: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, what steps his Department has taken to consult with disabled people and disabled people's organisations on flexible working since the 2019 general election.

Kevin Hollinrake: Since December 2019, the Government has run a 12-week consultation on flexible working. As part of this exercise, we held individual and roundtable discussions with disabled people’s organisations, before publishing our response in December 2022. The response committed to legislative changes, several of which are being taken forward through the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill.Furthermore, in April 2021, to ensure the effective representation of the views of disabled people, Scope became a member of the Flexible Working Taskforce, a partnership between Government Departments, business groups and third sector organisations set up to consider barriers to flexible working.

Flexible Working

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, what requirements his Department will place on employers to consult with employees before accepting or rejecting a flexible working request; and in what way the Government will ensure that those requirements are enforced.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government is pleased to support the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill which will introduce a requirement for employers to consult with an employee before rejecting their statutory flexible working request. The Bill does not specify what form the consultation should take.The Government will work with both the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and the Flexible Working Taskforce to develop appropriate guidance on each of the measures that the Bill will introduce.If an employer does not handle a request as required by Part 8A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee may be able to bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal.

Flexible Working

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, when and in what way the Government plans to introduce the right to request flexible working from the first day of employment.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government response to the “making flexible working the default” consultation was published on 5 December 2022. It sets out that the Government will make the right to request flexible working a ‘day one’ entitlement, by removing the existing 26-week qualifying period. This change will be delivered through secondary legislation, using existing powers in the Employment Rights Act 1996.We are committed to introducing this change alongside the measures included in the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament.

Treasury

Customs

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the de minimis customs threshold to £1000; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of raising the de minimis customs threshold to £1000.

Victoria Atkins: The customs duty de minimis threshold allows for ease of trade when importing low value consignments, benefiting businesses and consumers. This threshold remains under continuous review as part of ongoing work to develop and enhance our independent customs regime.

Hospitality Industry: VAT

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reduce the level of VAT applying to the hospitality sector; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: The previous VAT relief for tourism and hospitality cost over £8 billion. The Government has been clear that this was a temporary measure designed to support the cash flow and viability of sectors that have been severely affected by COVID-19. We have continued to support and encourage the hospitality sector through other measures since then. At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of changes and cuts to business rates worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including an increased 75 per cent relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2023-2024. This is a tax cut worth over £2 billion for around 230,000 RHL businesses, to support the high street and protect small shops.The introduction of a small profits rate of Corporation Tax, from April, keeps the rate at 19 per cent for companies with profits of £50,000 or less. This means around 70 per cent of actively trading companies will not see an increase in their Corporation Tax rate. The availability of marginal relief for companies with profits of between £50,000 and £250,000 means only around 10 per cent of actively trading companies will pay the full 25 per cent. While there are no plans to reduce the rate of VAT paid by hospitality businesses, the Government keeps all taxes under review.

Treasury: Economic Situation

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the his Department's policy paper entitled Net Zero Review Final Report, published on 19 October 2021, what recent progress his Department has made on building macroeconomic modelling capability.

James Cartlidge: As outlined in the Net Zero Review final report, HM Treasury is building its governance, capabilities and processes to support our transition to Net Zero. This includes developing a range of analytical approaches in order to develop our understanding of the many complexities of the economics of net zero and associated policy choices. Integrating the climate into macroeconomic models is an ongoing global effort and much of the international work is preliminary. HM Treasury is leading these discussions and will endeavour to use the best available evidence and analytical tools to carry out its economic assessment of net zero. Significant progress has already been made on building this analytical capacity.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2022 to Question 94724 on tobacco smuggling, when he expects secondary legislation to be introduced to extend the powers from HMRC to trading standards to provide on-the-spot fines of up to £10,000 to retailers selling illicit tobacco.

James Cartlidge: HMRC are not extending powers to Trading Standards to provide on-the-spot fines of up to £10,000 to retailers selling illicit tobacco. The new sanctions for illicit tobacco will be administered by HMRC based on referrals from Trading Standards. This referral model has been developed and is supported by all parties. Secondary legislation to enact the sanctions is expected to be introduced when parliamentary time allows.

Treasury: Carbon Emissions

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the his Department's policy paper entitled Net Zero Review Final Report, published on 19 October 2021, what recent progress his Department has made on reviewing (a) the public sector balance sheet and (b) risk exposures in the context of climate change and the shift to a greener economy.

James Cartlidge: HM Treasury continues to build governance, capabilities and processes to support our transition to Net Zero. That includes developing our analytical capability for assessing and reporting on our net zero transition and the impact of policies and projects. As set out in the Charter for Budget Responsibility, the OBR produces an annual sustainability report which analyses the sustainability of, and the risks to, the public finances. The government’s response to the 2022 Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report, published at Spring Budget 2023, included an update on progress made on managing the risks of the net zero transition.

Treasury: Carbon Emissions

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the his Department's policy paper entitled Net Zero Review Final Report, published on 19 October 2021, what recent progress his Department has made on developing the green book in line with environmental evidence.

James Cartlidge: As outlined in the Net Zero Review final report, HM Treasury is building its governance, capabilities and processes to support our transition to Net Zero. The Green Book mandates the consideration of climate and environmental impacts in appraisal and provides detailed guidance on how to do so. There have been a range of recent updates to the Green Book and particularly on environmental appraisal to support best practice. This includes both net zero and appraising wider impacts on the environment. In January 2023, supplementary guidance to the Green Book on the appraisal and evaluation of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was revised to improve its use for policymaking when applied to climate and environment. The Treasury requires all departments to adhere to the Green Book guidance when providing a business case for a policy, programme or project.

Treasury: Carbon Emissions

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the his Department's policy paper entitled Net Zero Review Final Report, published on 19 October 2021, what recent progress his Department has made with HMRC on strengthen the analytical approach to monitoring, evaluating and quantifying the environmental impacts of tax measures.

James Cartlidge: As outlined in the Net Zero Review final report, HM Treasury is building its governance, capabilities and processes to support our transition to Net Zero. HM Treasury is committed to ensuring fiscal decision making is aligned with achieving net zero. To support this, climate assessments are included in advice to Ministers at fiscal events. HMT and HMRC consider climate change and environmental implications of relevant tax measures. Climate assessments are included in all relevant Tax Information and Impact Notes (TIINs). HMT and HMRC continue to work together to improve our approach to assessing the environmental impacts of tax measures.

Treasury: Carbon Emissions

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the his Department's policy paper entitled Net Zero Review Final Report, published on 19 October 2021, what recent progress his Department has made on developing a technology framework to support net zero innovation at fiscal events.

James Cartlidge: In 2021, Government published the Net Zero Research and Innovation Framework which sets the research and innovation challenges across sectors over the next 5 to 10 years. The Net Zero Research and Innovation Delivery Plan 2022-2025, published on 30 March 2023, built on this Framework and set out the allocation of £4.2 billion in Government and Ofgem supported research and innovation funding for net zero. Projects were chosen to maximise strategic advantage for the UK, their contribution to carbon budget delivery and to retain optionality for different net zero pathways. The Government will continue to use evidence and the Framework to ensure that public spending on net zero innovation is supporting the transition in the most cost-effective way.

Financial Conduct Authority

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the establishment of the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority in Australia following the Royal Commission on Misconduct in Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of establishing a similar consumer oversight body in the UK on accountability of the Financial Conduct Authority.

Andrew Griffith: The government launched the Future Regulatory Framework (FRF) Review to ensure that the UK maintains a coherent, agile and internationally-respected approach to financial services regulation following the UK’s exit from the European Union. Consultations were published in October 2020 and November 2021, which both received over 100 responses.The Financial Services and Markets Bill delivers the outcomes of the FRF Review, and repeals hundreds of pieces of retained EU law relating to financial services, which will give the regulators significant new rulemaking responsibilities.The government has been clear that more responsibility for the regulators should be balanced with clear accountability, appropriate democratic input, and transparent oversight.As a result, the Bill includes a package of measures to increase the accountability of the regulators to Parliament and HM Treasury, and enhance their engagement with stakeholders including consumer groups.

Financial Conduct Authority

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what basis the Government has decided whether or not the obligations placed on the Financial Conduct Authority under Section 29 of the Financial Services Act 2021 have been met by the regulator's decision to consult on and introduce its consumer duty, as opposed to a duty of care.

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Financial Conduct Authority's Consumer Duty will constitute a duty of care in common law.

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department plans to take to introduce the duty of care promised by Section 29 of the Financial Services Act 2021.

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the degree to which consumer interests are weighted in the governance of the Financial Conduct Authority; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffith: Section 29 of the Financial Services Act 2021 required the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to consult on whether it should make rules giving regulated financial service providers a duty of care over their customers. The Act also set out that the consultation must include “whether the FCA should make other provision in general rules about the level of care that must be provided to consumers by authorised persons, either instead of or in addition to a duty of care”. The Act further set out that the consultation must be carried out by the end of 2021, and any new rules introduced, if considered appropriate, before 1 August 2022. The FCA published a final Policy Statement on 27 July 2022 on its new Consumer Duty following two consultations in May and December 2021. The FCA has publicly set out how it considers it has met the requirements under the Financial Services Act 2021, including the requirement to consult on the introduction of a duty of care for financial services firms, and why the Consumer Duty amounts to a duty of care. As the FCA is an operationally independent regulator, it would not be appropriate for the government to comment on the specific rules introduced by the FCA. The FCA must operate within the framework of statutory duties and powers agreed by Parliament and is fully accountable to Parliament for how it discharges its statutory functions. The Government has given the FCA a statutory objective to protect consumers. The FCA is required to set out how it has advanced its objectives, including the consumer protection objective, as part of public consultations on draft rules. It is also required to set out how it has advanced its consumer protection objective as part of its annual report which is laid before Parliament.

Bank Services: Interest Rates

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that bank savings accounts offer interest rates of at least the same level of the Bank of England base rate.

Andrew Griffith: The pricing of financial products, including savings accounts, is a commercial decision for firms and the Government does not seek to intervene in such decisions. The Bank of England’s independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets the base rate of interest, which is known as the Bank Rate, to achieve its primary objective of maintaining price stability. MPC decisions over Bank Rate guide commercial banks’ decisions over the retail interest rates they charge on loans and pay on deposits. More broadly, the Government is committed to ensuring people are supported to save, and that they can access a wide range of competitive savings products. The retail savings market currently offers a range of competitive options to savers, who can now access the highest rates in recent years on a variety of instant access and fixed-term products.

Funerals: Regulation

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on regulation of the funeral plans sector.

Andrew Griffith: In January 2021, the government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from 29 July 2022. This has ensured that 1.6 million funeral plan customers are, for the first time, protected by compulsory and robust regulation. Throughout this process, the government has worked very closely with the FCA to ensure that the regulation of the sector is proportionate and effective. The government and the FCA continue to engage regularly as we monitor the implementation of regulation in this sector.

Mortgages: North West

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of people on standard variable rate mortgages in (a) Weaver Vale constituency and (b) the North West.

Andrew Griffith: According to UK Finance, c.20% of UK residential mortgages are on a variable rate. This includes standard variable rates, which mortgage borrowers typically revert to when their fixed-rate deal ends. As set out in the statement published following the Chancellor’s roundtable with the major mortgage lenders, the Financial Conduct Authority and Martin Lewis in December, the majority of borrowers are able to switch to a new fixed-rate deal with their existing lender without undergoing an affordability test, providing they are up to date with payments and not looking to borrow more. The major mortgage lenders also committed to providing well-timed information to help customers plan ahead should their current fixed rate be due to end.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the grant of special licenses by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is subject to (a) effective scrutiny and (b) ministerial oversight.

James Cartlidge: I refer you to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 30 March 2023. This can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-03-30/hlws686.

Housing: Energy

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there will be a Barnett consequential for Northern Ireland from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant for energy-saving measures.

John Glen: Spending Review 2021 allocated funding for both the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant for energy-saving measures. At spending reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to changes in each UK government department’s DEL budget with the Barnett consequentials that arise then added to the devolved administrations’ baseline block grants. Because the Barnett formula is not applied to changes in funding for all the individual programmes within a UK government department’s DEL budget, the Barnett consequentials associated with these individual programmes cannot be identified. Spending Review 2021 set the largest annual block grants, in real terms, of any spending review settlement since the devolution Acts in 1998 and the Northern Ireland Executive is receiving an average of £1.6 billion per year through the Barnett formula on top of its £13.4 billion annual baseline. It is for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their funding in devolved areas, including environmental planning and decarbonisation.

Electronic Funds Transfer: Fraud

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring financial institutions to introduce a delay to processing payments linked to transactions that have been identified as potentially suspicious or fraudulent.

Andrew Griffith: The Government is clear that fraud prevention is preferable to cure, and that more needs to be done to protect the public from this devastating crime. As such, HM Treasury is actively investigating amending legislation to enable payment service providers (such as banks) to delay payments beyond the existing legislative timescales in limited, high-risk fraud scenarios, in order for enhanced customer engagement to take place. This could enable firms to take more of a ‘risk-based’ approach to payments processing. The Government will also continue its broader work across Departments to tackle fraud at the source, and will shortly publish a comprehensive Fraud Strategy to detail our ongoing and upcoming actions.

Customs

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues to ensure the effective delivery of the Single Trade Window; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: The 2025 Border Strategy, published in December 2020, committed to deliver a world-leading Single Trade Window (STW). This will provide a gateway between businesses and UK border processes and systems, allowing users to meet their import, export and transit obligations by submitting information once, and in one place. The goal is to create a seamless new “digital” border, where technologies and real-time data will save time and cost and improve customer experience at the border. This will help UK businesses of all sizes take advantage of new trading relationships and enhance the UK’s position as a global trading partner There are frequent discussions among colleagues across Government, at both official and ministerial levels, as well as engagement with businesses, to ensure the effective delivery of the Single Trade Window. Ministers will update the House in due course as the work develops.

Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the total annual amount of corporation tax relief that shipping groups qualifying for the Tonnage Tax will receive in each financial year from 2022-23 to 2025-26.

Victoria Atkins: Information on Tonnage Tax for 2022-23 is published in HMRC’s latest non-structural tax reliefs publication on the GOV.UK Website here: Non-structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Estimates are not held for the costs beyond 2022-2023.

Developing Countries: Debts

Ms Anum Qaisar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a strategy on debt relief in low-income countries.

Andrew Griffith: The UK plays a leadership role in international discussions on developing country debt. The government will continue to work with its international partners in the Paris Club and the G20 to urgently address debt vulnerabilities in low-income countries. The government will be responding to the International Development Committee’s recent inquiry into debt-relief in low-income countries in due course.

Economic Situation and Shipping

Karl Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Spring Budget 2023 on (a) the UK economy and (b) international shipowners.

Victoria Atkins: Assessments of the impact of the Budget, are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Further details can be found in the OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in March 2023: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2023/ At Spring Budget 2023, the Government announced further Tonnage Tax changes to encourage jobs and investment in the UK shipping industry. These changes include opening an election window to allow shipping companies to join or re-join UK Tonnage Tax and benefit from the advantageous Corporation Tax regime following reforms to Tonnage Tax that came into effect last year. These reforms aim to increase the number of firms basing their headquarters in the UK.

Financial Conduct Authority

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data his Department holds on the number of people who have successfully sued the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) using the bad faith or human rights carve-outs to the FCA's exemption from civil liability, set out in paragraph 25(3) of Part 4 of Schedule 1ZA of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2012.

Andrew Griffith: The government is not aware of any occasion where the FCA has been successfully sued for damages in the discharge of its functions.

Safe Hands Plans: Insolvency

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2022 to Question 101719 on Safe Hands Plans: Insolvency, whether the Government plans to provide financial support to people who lost money as a result of the collapse of the Safe Hand Funeral plan group.

Andrew Griffith: In January 2021, the government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from 29 July 2022. This has ensured that 1.6 million funeral plan customers are, for the first time, protected by compulsory and robust regulation as they seek to put their affairs in order. Safe Hands Plans went into administration in March 2022. The government understands that this will be very concerning for customers of Safe Hands. It would not be appropriate for the Government to set the precedent or expectation that it will use taxpayer money to compensate consumers for the misconduct of unregulated firms or products which were not sold as FCA regulated at the time. The Government’s role is instead to ensure that the appropriate regulation is in place to guard against such failures happening.

Treasury: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.

James Cartlidge: HM Treasury annual report and accounts 2021 to 2022 is publicly available and provides information on the proportion of staff declaring a disability.

Child Benefit: Uprating

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the annual cost of increasing Child Benefit by £20 per week.

John Glen: To ensure that Child Benefit payments retain their value, from April 2023, they will increase in line with September 2022 CPI (10.1%). The Government publishes details of historic and forecast benefit expenditure, including Child Benefit, on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2022

Fuels: Excise Duties

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme to fuel retailers in Ynys Môn constituency in the context of its rural location.

James Cartlidge: The Rural Fuel Duty Relief gives support to motorists by compensating fuel retailers in some rural areas, which meet all relevant criteria. This set of criteria are publicly set out at the following page: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rural-duty-relief-scheme-notice-2001 All taxes, including fuel duty, remain under review.

Budgets

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans future Budget statements to be in the Spring or the Autumn.

James Cartlidge: The Government is required by law to commission the Office for Budget Responsibility to produce two forecasts per year and to hold a Budget each fiscal year. The Government will notify Parliament on the timing and nature of the next fiscal even when this is agreed, as a matter of course.

Department for Work and Pensions

Debts: Advisory Services

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding his Department has provided to the Money and Pensions Advice Service for debt advice services in the (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24 financial year; and what estimate he has made of the level of demand for these services in the same period.

Laura Trott: The Money and Pensions Service’s (MaPS) 2022-23 debt advice budget was £91.4m, with the majority of those funds allocated to free-to-client frontline debt advice delivery in England. MaPS’ 2023-24 debt advice budget will be communicated through the Financial Conduct Authority’s consultation, due to be published in April.

Debts: Advisory Services

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria the Money and Pensions Service plans to apply to new contracts on debt advice to assess the outcomes of individual advice sessions; how those outcomes will be recorded; and whether it plans to use that information to inform future decision-making.

Laura Trott: The Money and Pensions Service’s Debt Advice Evaluation Research (Voice of the Customer) programme tracks the experiences of customers using its debt services from beginning to end via an outcomes survey. Participation is mandatory for suppliers and output forms overall performance monitoring and management. Insight gathered will support the evidence base for future debt advice commissioning.

Restart Scheme

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people completed the Restart scheme since its establishment; and how many of those people were sanctioned while on the Restart scheme in (a) York and (b) the UK.

Guy Opperman: The Restart Scheme is delivered over 12 Contract Package Areas (CPAs) throughout England and Wales. CPA2a encompasses Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, North and Northeast Lincolnshire. The scheme offers participants up to 12 months of support to move into sustained employment. Participants complete the scheme at the end of the 12 months support period but can do it sooner if they achieve a job outcome prior to that point. A job outcome is achieved when a participant either:Earns the equivalent of working 16 hours per week for 26 weeks at the National Living Wage (25+)Has 6 months in gainful self-employment. The table below shows the numbers of starts on the scheme, and of those starts the numbers so far of: participants who are completers, job outcomes, and completers without an outcome yet, in CPA2a and nationally. AreaStarts on the schemeTotal completers so farJob outcomes achieved so farCompleter without a job outcome so farCPA2a29,90513,1905,3907,800National – All 12 CPAs in England and Wales416,885183,09071,920111,170 Source: DWP Management Information Information regarding how many of those people were sanctioned while on the Restart Scheme cannot be provided because this information is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Please Note:Starts on the scheme is the number of people who have had their first initial appointment with a Restart provider, since the scheme started in June 2021. Total completers so far is the number of participants who have either achieved a job outcome or have completed 12 months on the scheme and have not yet achieved a job outcome. As more time elapses more of these starts will complete. Job outcomes achieved so far is the cumulative number of participants who have achieved a job outcome so far. Many starts who have started more recently will not yet have had time to achieve an outcome, therefore, as more time elapses more job outcomes will be achieved from these starts. Completers without a job outcome so far is the number of participants who have completed 12 months on the scheme but who have not yet achieved a job outcome. Participants have 18 months in which to achieve a job outcome after starting on the scheme and so some of this group may still go on to achieve a job outcome. Therefore, the number of completers without a job outcome from these starts will reduce. All numbers are cumulative and contemporary as of 28 February 2023. Volumes are rounded and therefore may not sum exactly.

Universal Credit: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2022 to Question 104134 on Universal Credit: Armed Forces, how many Universal Credit claimants have been identified as (a) serving and (b) having served in the armed forces for the assessment periods ending on 1 March 2023.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone. Data coverage continues to improve over time and by February 2023 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 61% of the GB UC caseload (see table below). It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past. Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far. The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded are not representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past. Increases in the numbers of claimants with a recorded status of “currently serving” or “served in the past” do not necessarily mean the overall numbers of claimants who are currently serving or have served in the past have increased and may reflect increases in the number of claimants for whom data is held as data coverage improves over time. The table below shows how the proportion of the GB UC caseload with a recorded Armed Forces status has changed over time. It also shows how many claimants on the caseload had a recorded status of each type. GB UC caseload by recorded Armed Forces status UC caseload monthProportion of caseload with a recorded statusCurrently servingServed in the pastNot servedPrefer not to sayNo recorded statusJuly 202251%3,00038,6002,804,20021,0002,753,300August 202253%3,20040,1002,912,50021,8002,683,400September 202254%3,20041,4003,002,50022,4002,614,700October 202256%3,30042,8003,131,70023,4002,530,000November 202257%3,30044,0003,218,30024,0002,467,100December 202258%3,40045,1003,299,40024,6002,407,600January 202359%3,50046,2003,375,00025,4002,349,700February 2023 (provisional)61%3,60048,3003,508,30026,5002,306,900 Notes: 1. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland. The figures provided only relate to Great Britain.2. Percentages are rounded to the nearest percent and numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.3. Figures may be subject to retrospective changes as more up-to-date data becomes available or if methodological improvements are made. Figures relating to February 2023 are provisional and may be subject to revision.4. Due to methodological improvements, these figures are based on the Official Statistics UC caseload definition. Some previous figures have used an alternative caseload definition based on assessment period end dates.5. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Universal Credit

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 171411 on Universal Credit, whether he plans to publish that equalities assessment.

Guy Opperman: The Equalities Assessment will be published in due course.

Living Wage

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 76 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC 1183, published on 15 March 2023, whether his Department has conducted an equalities impact assessment of the policy decision to increase the Administrative Earnings Threshold from 15 to 18 hours per week at the National Living Wage.

Guy Opperman: Yes.

Universal Credit

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of Universal Credit claimants that will be moved into the Intensive Work Search regime as a result of removing the couple’s Administrative Earnings Threshold.

Guy Opperman: Based on current forecasts, Department analysts provisional estimate is that the Intensive Work Search caseload will be increased by around 80,000 as the result of the removal of the Couples’ Administrative Earnings Threshold. Forecasts are subject to revision, and we will publish an updated estimate closer to the time the measure is introduced.

Universal Credit: Carers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 171412 on Universal Credit: Carers, whether he plans to publish the Equalities Impact Assessment for additional conditionality for lead carers of young children.

Guy Opperman: The department cannot identify precisely lead carers of young children centrally as information on lead carers is not held in Universal Credit administrative data. The department has carried out a high-level Equalities Impact Assessment for this measure based on high-level characteristics of claimants. There are no plans to publish this.

Universal Credit: Carers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of Universal Credit claimants who will be moved into the Intensive Work Search regime as a result of the introduction of additional conditionality for Universal Credit claimants who are lead carers of young children.

Guy Opperman: Information on lead carers is not centrally held in Universal Credit administrative data. Therefore, a precise estimate of how many individuals will move into the Intensive Work Search regime because of policy changes could only be established at disproportionate cost.

Disability: Surveys

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of running the series of regular disability surveys as set out in National Disability Strategy published in July 2021.

Tom Pursglove: The 2021 National Disability Strategy set out an ambition to improve the lives of millions of disabled people in the UK. In January 2022, the High Court declared the strategy to be unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations. The DWP Secretary of State has been granted permission to appeal from the Court of Appeal. In order to ensure compliance with the Court’s declaration, we are obliged to pause a limited number of policies which are referred to in the strategy, or are directly connected with it. This policy is not one of the policies we have been obliged to pause. ONS started work on developing a survey into disabled people’s experiences and barriers in 2022. The cost is estimated at £2.1 million as a start-up figure, followed by an estimated yearly cost of £1.5 million, for which we are seeking funding with a range of partners.

Disability: Departmental Coordination

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on publishing a cross-government harmonised disability data as set out in the National Disability Strategy published in July 2021.

Tom Pursglove: The 2021 National Disability Strategy set out an ambition to improve the lives of millions of disabled people in the UK. In January 2022, the High Court declared the strategy to be unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations. The DWP Secretary of State has been granted permission to appeal from the Court of Appeal. In order to ensure compliance with the Court’s declaration, we are obliged to pause a limited number of policies which are referred to in the strategy, or are directly connected with it. This policy is not one of the policies we have been obliged to pause. The Disability Unit continues to work with ONS and statistical teams across Government to encourage wider use of harmonised disability concepts and definitions across departmental data and is working with ONS on the review of disability data harmonised standards to meet user needs and explore potential improvements.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, which Jobcentres are included in the trial of extra work coach support for people on universal credit and employment support allowance currently awaiting their work capability assessment and for people who have been found to have limited capability for work or work-related activity but would like help to move into work.

Tom Pursglove: Additional Work Coach Support has been trialled and it is available in all Jobcentres within 12 districts, as listed below. This is one-third of Jobcentres. These districts are – Birmingham and Solihull, Cumbria and Lancashire, Devon and Cornwall, East London, East Scotland, Essex, Kent, Lincoln Nottingham and Rutland, Merseyside, Northumberland Tyne and Wear, South West Wales, West Scotland.

Disability: Caravans

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of preferential capital allowances for wheelchair accessible caravans on the number of such caravans produced; and if he will discuss such allowances with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Tom Pursglove: DWP has made no assessment. Tax policy, such as capital allowances, is a matter for HMT.

Disability: Surveys

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Departments will commence the series of regular disability surveys as set out in the National Disability Strategy published in July 2021.

Tom Pursglove: The 2021 National Disability Strategy set out an ambition to improve the lives of millions of disabled people in the UK. In January 2022, the High Court declared the strategy to be unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations. The DWP Secretary of State has been granted permission to appeal from the Court of Appeal. In order to ensure compliance with the Court’s declaration, we are obliged to pause a limited number of policies which are referred to in the strategy, or are directly connected with it. This policy is not one of the policies we have been obliged to pause. ONS started work on developing a survey into disabled people’s experiences and barriers in 2022 and to date the following have been completed: ONSDesigned the sampling method and agreed the sample sourcesDesigned and costed the survey operational deliveryDesigned and cognitively tested the paper materialsDrafted and tested invitation letters, respondent reminders and survey leafletsCompleted some cognitive testing of commissioned questions / requirementsTested several questions and responses with both disabled and non-disabled peopleDeveloped and implemented an engagement plan for the survey The Disability Unit:Is exploring options for funding and/or sponsorship to make the survey a reality (for example by working with business and research funders, as well as Government departments). Further work is being undertaken by ONS on question development and testing, which will then lead to a pilot survey to develop future analytical products.

Employment and Unemployment: Sign Language

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate his Department has made of the (a) employment rate (b) unemployment rate and (c) rate of economic inactivity among people of working age who use British Sign Language as their primary language.

Tom Pursglove: We hold no estimate of the employment rate, unemployment rate, or rate of economic inactivity among working age people who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their primary language. The Government has a range of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including those who use BSL as their primary language, to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:Increasing Work Coach support in Jobcentres for people with health conditions receiving Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance;Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;The Work and Health Programme and Intensive Personalised Employment Support, providing tailored and personalised support for participants;Access to Work grants towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable adjustments;Disability Confident encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;The Information and Advice Service providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace; andSupport in partnership between DWP and the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies, which combines psychological treatment and employment support for people with mental health conditions. To tackle rising economic inactivity due to long-term sickness, we announced a wide-reaching package at the Spring Budget to support disabled people and people with health conditions to work. New investment will provide faster access to joined-up work and health support, including for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions, the two leading causes of economic inactivity due to long-term sickness.

Personal Independence Payment

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP claimants who receive the highest rate of support are subject to the arrangement whereby they receive an ongoing award of PIP with a light touch review every 10 years.

Tom Pursglove: Data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims receiving an ongoing award on the highest level of payment (Enhanced awards for both Mobility and Daily Living) can be found on Stat-Xplore. In particular, the requested data can be found by applying the following filters to the ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset: Clearance Type Detail: “Awarded”Award Type: “Ongoing Award”Daily Living Award Level: “Daily Living – Enhanced”Mobility Award Status: “Mobility Award – Enhanced” You may also wish to filter for “DWP policy ownership” under Geography due to the devolution of some disability benefits to Scotland. You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.

Disability: Children

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to (a) support parents of disabled children and (b) help those parents return to work.

Tom Pursglove: The Government is committed to providing extensive support to help parents return to work, including parents of disabled children. Recognising that high childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions about work and hours, the Government has announced improvements to the UC childcare element, offering additional financial support to parents starting work, or increasing their earnings. The Government believes that the best way to support living standards is through good work, better skills, and higher wages, which is why, on the 24 November 2021, the Universal Credit taper rate was reduced from 63% to 55%, enabling claimants to keep more of their earnings. Parents also benefit from the Work Allowance, which is increasing by £500 a year, in addition to the normal benefits uprating. When a dependent child is disabled, the claimant may qualify for Disabled Child Addition. To be eligible, the child must be receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA). DLA is available to eligible children under 16, regardless of the family’s income. Parents of disabled children, like all claimants, agree to commitments that are tailored to their circumstances and improve the likelihood of them moving into work.

Occupational Health: Small Businesses

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 76 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC 1183, published on 15 March 2023, for what reason the costs of the Occupational Health: SME subsidy pilot scheme expansion pilot are expected to be lower in 2023-24 than in 2024-25.

Tom Pursglove: Access to Occupational Health (OH) services can play an important role in reducing economic inactivity by supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to stay and succeed in work. The Government has committed to testing a financial incentive (subsidy), and market navigation support scheme, to gather evidence on whether this is effective in increasing access to OH for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the self-employed. The Spring Budget 2023 announced new funding to expand the forthcoming Occupational Health SME subsidy pilot. This funding covers the next two financial years and increases in the second year as the pilot increases in scale.

Jobcentres: Health Services

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish further details on the WorkWell Partnerships Programme pilot announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Spring Budget 2023.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the WorkWell Partnerships Programme pilot will provide support for economically inactive people.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 76 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC 1183, published on 15 March 2023, for what reason costs of the WorkWell Partnerships Programme pilot (a) increase each year from 2023-24 to 2025-26 and (b) fall to zero from 2026-27.

Tom Pursglove: The WorkWell Partnerships Programme will pilot support for disabled people and people with health conditions who want help to remain in, return to, or take up, work.  This includes economically inactive people, as well as individuals who want help to remain in work. The programme will be locally led and will provide light touch work and health support. The Spring Budget 2023 announced funding for the pilot to operate over the next three financial years. Further information about the pilot will be published in due course.

Health Services: Employment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 76 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC 1183, published on 15 March 2023, for what reason the cost of increasing employment advisers in health settings is expected to be £5 million in 2023-24 compared to £50 million in 2027-28.

Tom Pursglove: The Spring Budget 2023 announced new funding for employment advisers in health settings. This funding increases over the next five years to reflect the lead-in to implementation, such as workforce training and recruitment, and to reflect the programmes increasing in scale. These funding figures have been adjusted to include Barnett consequentials.

Access to Work Programme

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for Access to Work assessments.

Tom Pursglove: Access to Work has received a significant increase in applications over the last year and we have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications, where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter, and remain in, the labour market. We are also streamlining and transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, that will make the service more efficient, will make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.

Health and Safety

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department's policy to maintain the protection provided by (i) the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (ii) the Display Screen Equipment Regulations (iii) The Manual Handling Operations Regulations (iv) The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (v) The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (vi) The Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations following the UK's exit from the EU.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department's policy to maintain the protections provided by the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/1513) following the UK's exit from the EU; and if his Department will meet with industry representatives to discuss this matter.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will meet with industry representatives to discuss the potential merits of retaining the protections provided by the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/2792) following the UK's exit from the EU.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department's policy to maintain the protections provided by the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 (S.I. 1981/917) following the UK's exit from the EU; and if his Department will meet industry representatives to discuss that matter.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department's policy to retain the protections of the Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/341) following the UK's exit from the EU; and if his Department will meet with industry representatives to discuss that matter.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will meet with industry representatives to discuss the potential merits of retaining the protections provided by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/3242) following the UK's exit from the EU.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to retain the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 following the passage of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill; and if he will hold discussions with industry representatives on the potential merits of retaining these regulations.

Mims Davies: With the introduction of the REUL Bill, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) remains focused on ensuring that regulatory frameworks maintain the United Kingdom’s high standards of health and safety protection and continue to reduce burdens for business. HSE’s approach aligns closely with the Government’s pledge to do more for business to help promote growth by removing disproportionate burdens and simplifying the regulatory landscape. Our standards of health and safety protections are among the highest in the world. HSE will continue to review its retained EU Law to seek opportunities to reduce business burdens and promote growth without reducing health and safety standards. HSE will engage with stakeholders as appropriate.

Personal Care Services: Health and Safety

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential adequacy of current health and safety regulations for (a) practice and (b) training in the beauty industry.

Mims Davies: The Health and Safety at Work Act and associated regulations provide an effective framework for securing the health, safety and welfare of those working in beauty industry. Under health and safety legislation, employers and the self-employed providing beauty treatments are required to identify risks to workers and others from their work activities and take action to manage those risks. In addition, employers are required to take into account the health and safety capabilities of their employees when entrusting them with tasks and ensure that they receive adequate health and safety training. Employers are also required to provide their employees with clear, relevant information on risks to their health and safety and the use of preventive and protective measures.

Support for Mortgage Interest

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when support for mortgage interest will be implemented; and what that figure will be.

Mims Davies: An increase to the rate paid through the SMI scheme was triggered on Wednesday 29th March 2023. The rate will increase from 2.09% to 2.65% and will be implemented no later than 10th May 2023. The rate of SMI payments only changes when the Bank of England’s average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the standard interest rate.

Asylum: Food Poverty

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the level of food poverty among (a) local authorities and (b) communities accommodating asylum seekers.

Mims Davies: Statistics on food security and foodbank use for local authorities or communities accommodating asylum seekers specifically is not collected.National statistics on food bank use for 2021/22 are available here. We aim to publish statistics for 2022/23 in March 2024.The latest statistics show that in 2021/22, 93% of individuals were food secure, down from 94% in 2020/21.

Local Housing Allowance

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of freezing the rates of Local Housing Allowance on the number of people who will be unable to meet their housing costs.

Mims Davies: The Department does not hold this information, therefore no such estimate had been made.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Agency Workers and Temporary Employment

John Spellar: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many temporary or agency workers were working for the House of Commons on 20 March 2023.

Sir Charles Walker: On 20 March 2023 the number of temporary and agency workers working for the House of Commons was 205.

Ministry of Defence

Armed forces: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total number of senior responsible owners (SROs) is in his Department; and how many of those SROs are responsible for a project not in the Government Major Projects Portfolio.

Alex Chalk: Defence has 41 individuals acting as Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) Senior Responsible Owners. The appointment of Senior Responsible Owners for non-GMPP projects is delegated to Front Line Commands and Enabling Organisations. The position changes frequently as projects are initiated and closed, and a central list is not maintained. As at 11 April 2023 Front Line Commands and Enabling Organisations have reported that they have 114 formally appointed non-GMPP Senior Responsible Owners.

Armed forces: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to section 5.2 of guidance produced by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority entitled The role of the senior responsible owner, published on 18 July 2019, how many senior responsible owners in his Department have not completed the major projects leadership academy due to having master builder experience.

Alex Chalk: There are no Government Major Projects Portfolio Senior Responsible Owners in Defence who have not completed or enrolled upon the major projects leadership academy because they have master builder experience.

Ministry of Defence: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes biannual diversity statistics on its civilian staff excluding those employed by organisations with delegated personnel functions (Trading funds, DE&S Bespoke Trading Entity, Executive Agencies, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Locally engaged civilians (LECs)). The most recent statistics were published in December 2022 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-diversity-dashboard-october-2022. Table 6 - Disability Representation of MOD Main Civilian Personnel shows that as at 1 October 2022, 11.5% of MOD Main civilian personnel had an active declaration of disabled. The MOD D&I Strategy 2018-30 for its civilian workforce has specific measurable and achievable aims to increase representation of staff with a disability across the department, including the Senior Civil Service. The MOD is an accredited ‘Disability Confident Scheme Leader’ and encourages candidates with disabilities to apply to Defence. The MOD has several initiatives to support disabled personnel across the whole of Defence, including the Defence and civilian networks and champions. The Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Service is well established, offering specialist advice and access to a review route for disabled employees experiencing difficulties in securing the adjustments they need. The service includes a Workplace Adjustment Passport to facilitate the seamless retention of adjustments on a change of line manager, job role or move between business areas.

Armed Forces: Scotland

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 171543 on Armed Forces: Scotland, how many and what proportion of the 15,480 military personnel stationed in Scotland as at 1 January 2023 were resident in that country.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The number of military personnel stationed and living in Scotland as at 1 January 2023 is 9,260. This represents 59.8 per cent of the 15,480 military personnel stationed in Scotland.The figures are rounded to the nearest ten. Stationed figures are based on Service personnel's stationed location and not their location of residence - where personnel work isn't necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location. The Royal Navy/Royal Marines personnel on sea service are included against the local authority containing the home port of their ship.Where a Service person is living is based on their Primary address as recorded on Joint Personnel Administration. An individual can have a Residence at Work Address, Permanent Home Address and Out of Hours Contact Address all running concurrently. The Service person will then mark only one address as primary; this is regarded by the Ministry of Defence as their main resident address.

Ukraine: Defence Equipment

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2023 to Question 146842 on Ukraine: Defence Equipment, what the total overall cost is of military equipment provided to Ukraine since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

James Heappey: I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer of 22 February 2023. Due to the ongoing nature of the conflict and for reasons of operational security, it would be inappropriate to release information about the value of military equipment provided to Ukraine at this stage.Ukraine: Defence Equipment (docx, 22.1KB)

Ministry of Defence: Infosys

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) contracts and (b) sub-contracts his Department holds with Infosys; and what the value is of each.

Alex Chalk: A search has found no contracts awarded by the Ministry of Defence to Infosys.Comprehensive information on sub-contractors is not recorded centrally by the Department and as such, details of any sub-contracts held by Infosys could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

NATO: Nuclear Weapons

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what NATO's policy is on the first use of nuclear weapons by that organisation.

James Heappey: NATO states that the circumstances in which it might have to use nuclear weapons are extremely remote but does not publicly define those circumstances. The fundamental purpose of NATO's nuclear capability is to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression. Should the fundamental security of any NATO Ally be threatened, NATO has the capabilities and the resolve to impose costs on the adversary that would be unacceptable and far outweigh the benefits that any adversary could hope to achieve.

Ministry of Defence: Pay

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a comparative assessment of the percentage increases in the (a) pay for MoD staff and (b) national living wage since 2016; what assessment he has made of the impact of the levels of pay for staff in his Department on the (i) recruitment and (ii) retention of staff in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The increase, as a percentage, for the national living wage (NLW) rate, the amount the Civil Service (CS) pay remit permitted, and the overall award which the Ministry of Defence (MOD) implemented in each year since 2016 is presented in the table below: Year20162017201820192020202120222023NLW Increase7.45%4.17%4.4%4.85%6.21%2.18%6.62%9.68%CS Remit guidance1%1%1-1.5%1-2%1.5-2.5%0%2-3% MOD pay award1%1%1.5%2%2.5%0%3% Notes to table: - The MOD has implemented an award at the maximum of the permitted ranges allowed under the Cabinet Office/Treasury guidance in each year. This represents the overall MOD change in pay and not necessarily what every individual received.- For 2023 the CS guidance, and therefore MOD’s award, are yet to be published/determined and, therefore, their respective cells are blank. No assessment has been made on the impact of the NLW rise on recruitment and retention. This will be closely monitored from April 2023 when the new NLW rate comes into effect. A multi-disciplinary project team has been created to steer the Defence response to the NLW and any necessary changes in our operating model.

RAF Molesworth

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) size in hectares and (b) Housing Unit Potential is of RAF Molesworth.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) size in hectares and (b) Housing Unit Potential is of RAF Barkston Heath.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) size in hectares and (b) Housing Unit Potential is of RAF Coningsby.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) size in hectares and (b) Housing Unit Potential is of RAF College Cranwell.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) size in hectares and (b) Housing Unit Potential is of RAF Croughton.

Alex Chalk: RAF Molesworth is 270.484 hectares in size. RAF Barkston Heath is 219.398 hectares in size. RAF Coningsby is 428.804 hectares in size. RAF College Cranwell is 732.793 hectares in size. RAF Croughton is 278.895 hectares in size.  No assessment has been made of the Housing Unit Potential on these sites, as they have not been identified for disposal.

Salisbury Plain

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the size in hectares of Salisbury Plain.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the size is in hectares of Salisbury Plain used for non-military purposes.

Alex Chalk: Salisbury Plain is 36,090.98 hectares in size. The Salisbury Plain area used for non-military purposes is 5,191.34 hectares in size. The Salisbury Plain area that is not used for military purposes is occupied by tenant farmers.

Salisbury Plain

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what non-military activities Salisbury Plain is used for by his Department.

Alex Chalk: Archaeological and Ecological activity is undertaken by the Department on Salisbury Plain. Parts of Salisbury Plain are occupied by tenant farmers. In addition, when Salisbury Plain is not being used for military purposes, where military capacity allows, use for Commercial and recreational purposes is permitted in accordance with military byelaws and public rights of way.

Catterick Garrison: Asylum

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Oral Statement on 29 March 2023 by the Minister for Immigration, whether his Department is covering the cost of the use of Catterick for housing asylum seekers.

Alex Chalk: Costs associated with housing asylum seekers are a matter for the Home Office.

Veterans: Military Bases

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former service people are housed in military housing in Bolton South East constituency as of 30 March 2023.

Alex Chalk: This information is not held. There are no Service Family accommodation properties in the Bolton South East Constituency.

Military Bases: Asylum

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Oral Statement to the House on 29 March 2023 by the Minister for Immigration, whether any serving military personnel or their families will be required to move out of their (a) single living accommodation or (b) service family accommodation before asylum seekers can be housed in military bases.

Alex Chalk: There will be a small number of military families moving from our former site in Wethersfield as part of standard site closure processes. The timescale for this is independent of Home Office plans.

Department for Transport

London Underground and Railways

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken steps to help improve access to (a) the night tube in London and (b) overnight train services across the UK.

Huw Merriman: Transport in London is devolved and is the responsibility of the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL), this includes operation of the London Underground. The Department continues to work closely with TfL to ensure that London’s transport network can support the capital as it recovers from the impacts of the pandemic. Provision of overnight rail services need to be carefully considered alongside Network Rail’s requirements to inspect and maintain the tracks and the value for money for taxpayers. The Department regularly reviews demand for train services and works with operators to provide services where they provide value for money and can be delivered within the available capacity of the network.

Transport: Innovation

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 168095 on Transport: Innovation, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of any delay in implementing recommendation 4 of Sir Patrick Vallance's review on investment in the UK.

Jesse Norman: The Government is continuing to work closely with industry to support investment in innovative transport modes across the UK. On 1 February, the Business Secretary announced £82m of joint government and industry R&D funding for seven Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) projects to pilot commercial passenger freight services. To support further funding, the sector, and future investment in the UK, Government is committed to bringing forward Future of Transport legislation when parliamentary time allows.

Diesel Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) prevent and (b) sanction car manufacturers who use defeat devices to provide misleading emissions data in diesel cars.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the European Court of Justice judgment that Mercedes-Benz must pay compensation for the use of illegal defeat devices in diesel cars on consumer rights.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report by the International Council on Clean Transportation entitled Reassessment of excess NOx from diesel cars in Europe following the Court of Justice of the European Union Rulings, published on 22 March 2023, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his consumer rights policies of that report's findings of suspicious levels of NOx emissions in over 75 per cent of official government tests of diesel cars sold in Europe from 2009 to 2019 and the likely use of a prohibited defeat device in those cases.

Jesse Norman: The Government is committed to reducing air pollution from all forms of transport, and this pollution has significantly fallen since 2010. Emissions of nitrogen oxides have fallen by 45% and emissions of PM2.5 by 10%. The DVSA Market Surveillance Unit (MSU) conducts an annual emissions-testing programme to test vehicle emissions in the real world. Where MSU testing identifies non-compliant emissions, including suspicions of a prohibited defeat device, DVSA works with the manufacturer to implement improvement plans. The results of the MSU annual emissions-testing programme are made publicly available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dvsa-vehicle-market-surveillance-unit. In 2018 the Government strengthened restrictions against the use of illegal emissions technology by passing legislation making it an offence for manufacturers to place motor vehicles on the market which contain prohibited defeat systems. The Government will also bring forward legislation to enable it to require vehicles to be recalled on environmental grounds, as well as exploring other means to strengthen enforcement. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibit traders across all business sectors from engaging in unfair commercial practices in connection with the promotion, sale and supply of products to consumers. Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority are responsible for enforcing these protections. The Department has made no specific assessment of the impact of the case by the European Court of Justice judgement.

Public Transport

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the proposals on public transport within the report entitled Mission Zero: Independent Review of Net Zero, published on 26 September 2022.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to implement the proposals on public transport within the report entitled Mission Zero: Independent Review of Net Zero, published on 26 September 2022.

Jesse Norman: The Department acknowledged the role that helping passengers to choose public transport will have in the decarbonisation of the sector in March 2023’s Powering Up Britain: Net Zero Growth Plan and thanks Chris Skidmore MP for his detailed review of reducing transport emissions in Mission Zero: Independent Review of Net Zero. The Department outlined a model for improving and increasing demand for public transport in the National Bus Strategy for England and Plan for Rail and are delivering on its ambitions, including investing £360 million in fares, ticketing and retailing for rail. The Department remains committed to supporting the introduction of 4,000 zero emission buses and a zero-emission bus fleet, with approximately 3,400 zero emission buses funded to date across the UK. The Government has provided over £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding since March 2020 to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and protect vital bus routes and is also investing over £1 billion to support improvements to bus services through local Bus Service Improvement Plans.

Motor Vehicles: Engines

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, If he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the EU policy on banning internal combustion engines.

Jesse Norman: A full cost benefit analysis has been published alongside a consultation on the Government’s final proposals for a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and CO2 emissions regulation for new cars and vans in the UK.

Railways: North of England

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits of the Northern Powerhouse Rail for Wales.

Huw Merriman: The Government published the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) for the North and Midlands in November 2021 of which Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) forms one component. As NPR is a programme designed to improve connectivity in the North of England, specific economic benefits accruing to Wales from the scheme have not been assessed.The IRP will improve onward connectivity to the South West and Wales via a new high-speed line from Birmingham to Manchester. Much of North Wales will also be brought within two and a quarter hours of London, via interchange with HS2 at Crewe. In addition, the Midlands Rail Hub business case focuses on improving links to Hereford, Worcester, Coventry and regional links to South Wales and Bristol.

Transport: North Wales

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will work with the Welsh Government on a multimodal review of the North Wales transport corridor to develop improvements of (a) the North Wales Main Line, (b) connectivity with HS2, (c) electrification), (d) the A55, (e) the M53, (f) the M56, and (g) travel to and from the island of Ireland.

Mr Richard Holden: Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill’s independent Union Connectivity Review recognised the importance of transport connectivity right across our United Kingdom recommended that a multimodal review of the North Wales transport corridor be undertaken. It is the UK Government’s clear view that we should work towards improving transport via all modes in order to ensure that opportunity is available to all in every part of our United Kingdom. This includes via road, which in addition to private car and motorcycle, also carry the overwhelming majority of freight and over three-quarters of public transport users, especially from lower-income and elderly groups by bus and younger people via long-distance coach travel. Following the Union Connectivity Review, the Welsh Government subsequently announced the establishment of the North Wales Transport Commission, led by Lord Burns, to assess the transport system in North Wales. We will consider any recommendations that Commission makes and to the Union Connectivity Review in due course but it’s clear from the UK Government’s recent announced investment in Holyhead in Ynys Mon that the UK Government understand the value and importance of the North Wales Traffic Corridor across all modes of transport.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Driving Licences

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of enforcement by the Traffic Commissioners of compliance with relevant requirements by holders of operator's licences for heavy goods vehicles.

Mr Richard Holden: The Traffic Commissioners are an arms-length tribunal. They review licences when evidence of non-compliance is provided by enforcement agencies, such as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency or Police. The Traffic Commissioners will call operators to public inquiry in response to allegations of serious failings, for instance significant drivers’ hours or roadworthiness. In 2021-2022 Traffic Commissioners undertook 920 Public Inquiries for this type of case leading to the revocation, curtailment or other action in all but 67 cases. In addition, Traffic Commissioners held 315 Public Inquiries to determine new applications for goods vehicle operator’s licences due to concerns that the applicant may not meet the requirements to hold a licence.

Large Goods Vehicles: Accidents

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the number and proportion of traffic accidents in rural areas involving heavy goods vehicles; and whether he is taking steps to control the level of heavy goods vehicle traffic in such areas.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department’s reported road casualty statistics are based on data collected via the STATS19 system of injury collisions reported by the police.In 2021, the latest year for which data is available, there were a total of 1,593 reported injury collisions on rural roads in Great Britain which involved at least one heavy goods vehicle. This represented 5.4% of the total number of injury collisions on rural roads in Great Britain in 2021.We keep rural roads under review as part of considerations for any future plans on road safety.

Pedestrian Areas: Parking

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to provide local councils with additional powers to prevent pavement parking; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department consulted on measures to address inconsiderate pavement parking in 2020 and received over 15,000 responses. We have been considering all views expressed including the options for providing local councils with additional powers. This is a complex issue and we want to ensure that local authorities have appropriate and effective tools at their disposal. We will publish the formal consultation response and announce next steps as soon as possible. In the meantime, local authorities already have the power to prohibit pavement parking in specific streets or wider areas by implementing Traffic Regulation Orders.

Vehicle Number Plates: Fraud

Nick Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue guidance to local authorities on tackling the cloning of vehicle number plates for use in criminal activity; and if he will take steps to require the relevant authorities issuing motoring penalties to provide (a) photographic evidence and (b) contact information.

Mr Richard Holden: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is currently working closely with the National Police Chiefs Council, Trading Standards, local authorities and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime. The police are responsible for on-road enforcement of vehicle offences, including cloned plates. Local authorities have procedures in place to deal with number plate cloning and registered keepers are advised to return any fines they receive to the issuing authorities along with any evidence to show that their vehicle was not in the area at the time. Registered keepers may also request photographic evidence and other information from the relevant authorities who have issued the penalty.

Shipping: Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to strengthen the link with ratings training in the Tonnage Tax.

Mr Richard Holden: To future-proof seafarer training, the Department has commissioned the Maritime Skills Commission to undertake a Ratings Review. This is exploring what the barriers and opportunities are regarding training for UK ratings, and where opportunities exist to enhance and grow the offer. The review is currently underway, and due to conclude later this year.

Shipping: Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Ratings were trained on Tonnage Tax qualifying vessels in each year from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Mr Richard Holden: To meet the Tonnage Tax training obligation, companies submit returns to the Department for Transport that specify the number of months that have been satisfied by the training of ratings. The following figures have been obtained from those returns. 2018/19 – 128 months equivalent to 11 ratings2019/20 – 276 months equivalent to 23 ratings2020/21 – 65 months equivalent to 5 ratings2021/22 – 168 months equivalent to 14 ratings2022/23 – 48 months so far representing 12 ratings currently part way through training as this year is still in progress.

Shipping: Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the number of vessels by flag register that qualify for the Tonnage Tax scheme.

Mr Richard Holden: Based on the 2022/23 returns to the Department for Transport from each of the companies within the UK Tonnage Tax scheme the figures for the number of vessels under each flag are as follows: *UK - 274Liberia – 125Marshall Islands – 53Bahamas – 50*Isle of Man – 36Malta – 36Panama – 22Hong Kong – 16Cyprus – 15Norway – 13Singapore – 13*Gibraltar – 11Madeira – 10Bermuda – 9Antigua & Barbuda – 6Brazil – 3Finland – 3Netherlands – 2Portugal – 2*Cayman Islands – 1St Vincent & the Grenadines – 1Spain – 1 * Part of the Red Ensign Group

Roads: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help improve the safety of (a) Gallows Corner in Romford and (b) other major road junctions in the London Borough of Havering.

Mr Richard Holden: My department is currently awaiting the submission of a business case from TfL in support of proposals to strengthen and refurbish the flyover at Gallows Corner. More widely, responsibility for London’s road network is primarily split between TfL, who manage London’s red routes, and the London boroughs, who manage around 95% of the network.

Road Traffic Offences: Accidents

Wendy Morton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of carrying out a consultation on creating an offence of failure to stop in a road traffic collision.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department is expecting to conduct a call for evidence into road traffic offences, which will provide an opportunity to consider this issue among others. This is a complex area of the law, which requires careful consideration to get it right.

Cycling and Walking: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of answer of 13 October 2022 to Oral question 901608, Official Report column 235, and to his Written Statement of 9 March 2023 on Transport Update, HCWS625, what assessment he has made of the continued feasibility of his Department’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy targets.

Jesse Norman: The Government’s most recent assessment of progress towards meeting the targets in question was set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy report to Parliament in July 2022. A copy of the report is available in the House libraries. The Department will provide an updated assessment in its next report to Parliament in due course.

Motor Vehicles: Noise

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what process his Department selected the areas to be used for the new noise camera trials announced on 30 April 2022.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who his Department consulted when selecting the areas to be used for the new noise camera trials announced on 30 April 2022.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department used to select the sites to be used for the new noise camera trials announced on 30 April 2022.

Mr Richard Holden: The shortlisted sites in Bristol, Great Yarmouth, Keighley and Rubery were chosen based on a number of factors, including the ability to use existing infrastructure and street furniture, and the type of vehicle noise problem at each site in order to achieve a sufficiently wide range of road types to test the noise camera technology. The current trials completed on 1 February, with data from the trials being evaluated later this year. If the trials prove to be successful, noise cameras may be considered for wider rollout.

Members: Correspondence

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to the request for a meeting on safety concerns on the A550 requested by the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston on 14 November 2022.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department apologises for the delay in responding and a reply will be provided shortly.

Department for Transport: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.

Jesse Norman: The representation of disabled staff within the Department is currently 8.6%, with a declaration rate of 82.4%.

Aviation: Regulation

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has made of the adequacy of the consumer protection powers available to aviation regulatory bodies.

Jesse Norman: As part of the Aviation Consumer Policy Reform Consultation in 2022, we consulted on whether the CAA should be given additional administrative powers to enforce consumer protections laws. The Department is considering the responses across all the proposals and will set out next steps in due course. The Department is also currently reviewing the CAA as part of the programme of reviews of sponsored bodies, including looking at the CAA’s effectiveness at enforcing consumer rights with its current powers. The report will be published in the Spring following the review.

Travel: Greater Manchester

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (iii) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in (i) Bolton South East constituency, (ii) the borough of Bolton and (iii) Greater Manchester.

Mr Richard Holden: The information requested regarding (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel usage in (i) Bolton South East constituency, (ii) the borough of Bolton and (iii) Greater Manchester is given below, where available. In several cases, data are not available specifically for Bolton South East constituency or the Borough of Bolton. A) Car ownershipAccording to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 1,393,157 registered cars as at end-September 2022 in Greater Manchester, 127,329 in Bolton Borough and 42,868 in Bolton South East Constituency. B) Bus usageAccording to the Department’s annual bus statistics, in the financial year 2021/22 there were 121.0 million local bus journeys taken in Greater Manchester. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available C) Light rail usageAccording to the Department’s light rail statistics, in the financial year 2021/22 there were 26.0 million journeys taken on Manchester Metrolink. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available D) Train usageAccording to Office of Rail and Road statistics in 2021/22 there were 39.2 million passenger rail journeys within the North West that started or ended in Greater Manchester. There were also 13.9 million journeys that started or ended in Greater Manchester that ended or started from regions other than the North West. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency and (ii) the borough of Bolton are not available E) Active travel usageAccording to the Department’s annual walking and cycling statistics, between November 2020 and November 2021, 61.4% of adults walked or cycled at least once a week in Bolton (Local authority) and 66.6% of adults walked or cycled at least once a week in Greater Manchester. Data for (i) Bolton South East constituency are not available F) Personal travel patterns in Greater ManchesterAdditionally, information from the Department’s National Travel Survey shows that, on average each year between 2010 and 2019 there were 244 walking trips per person, 11 pedal cycle trips per person, 81 bus trips per person, 12 surface rail trips per person and 11 light rail trips per person by residents of Greater Manchester. 76% of adults in Greater Manchester had access to a car in 2021. National Travel Survey data is not available at constituency or borough level.

Motor Vehicle Tyres (Labelling) (Enforcement) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the retained EU law bill, whether he plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace The Motor Vehicle Tyres (Labelling) (Enforcement) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department for Transport is currently in the process of reviewing its stock of Retained EU Law, including The Motor Vehicle Tyres (Labelling) (Enforcement) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. The Department will set out its approach to each piece of Retained EU Law in due course.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Warm Home Discount Scheme: Eligibility

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the number of people will no longer receive the Warm Homes Discount as a result of changes in the eligibility criteria for 2023.

Amanda Solloway: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bradford South on 9 March 2023 to Question 156174.

National Grid: Batteries and Renewable Energy

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to facilitate grid connections to allow the deployment of (a) renewables and (b) battery storage projects.

Graham Stuart: The Government works with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate connections by releasing network capacity and improving the connections process. As part of this work, the Electricity System Operator is seeking expressions of interest, by 30 April 2023, from developers who are willing and able to connect earlier than their allocated connection date. The Government will publish a Connections Action Plan in the summer, which will articulate actions by government, Ofgem and network companies to accelerate network connections, including for renewable energy and battery storage projects.

National Grid: Wales

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what (a) recent discussions he has had with and (b) steps he is taking with the Welsh Government on upgrading the national grid transmission network to ensure that it has the necessary capacity to transmit electricity from (i) offshore wind and other (ii) small scale community generation and large scale renewable generation projects.

Graham Stuart: The Government recently published the “Powering Up Britain” publications which reaffirm the Government's commitment to accelerating delivery of electricity network infrastructure across Great Britain, as a critical enabler for energy security and net zero. The Government will publish an action plan to accelerate network connections in the summer and will respond to networks commissioner Nick Winser’s recommendations later this year. The Government’s January 2023 response to the Welsh Affairs Committee’s inquiry also highlights work to upgrade grid capacity in Wales, including measures specific to offshore wind such as the Holistic Network Design, where Welsh Government officials are invited to attend relevant governance forums.

District Heating

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the (a) average annual cost between 31 March 2022 and 31 March 2023 and (b) projected annual cost until 31 March 2024 of (i) electricity and (ii) heating bills for households on communal and district heat networks; and if he will make a comparative assessment of the cost of (A) those customer's bills and (B) the bills of other domestic customers.

Amanda Solloway: The table below makes a comparative assessment of heating bills for a heat network customer and a typical domestic gas boiler customer. Bills are given as annualised estimates to account for heat consumption varying throughout the year. Time periods have been separated to reflect the introductions of government support schemes. No estimates have been made beyond June 2023 due to uncertainty in future prices. An electricity comparison has not been included above as most households with domestic electricity contracts and the same electricity demand will face the same electricity bills, regardless of whether they are connected to a heat network. Time periodEstimated annualised heat network heat bill (7,000 kWh of heat, fuel cost only)Estimated annualised domestic gas bill (7,000 kWh of heat, fuel cost only)April 2023 - June 2023  Energy Bill Discount Scheme supporting heat networks, Energy Price Guarantee capping domestic gas prices.£861£861October 2022 – March 2023  Energy Bill Relief Scheme supporting heat networks, Energy Price Guarantee capping domestic gas prices.£1,037£861March 2022 – September 2022  No government support in place for heat networks, Ofgem price cap limiting domestic gas price.£968£585

Energy Bills Discount Scheme: District Heating

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that energy suppliers for communal and district heat networks pass on the full benefit of the Energy Bills Discount Scheme to their domestic customers from 1 April 2023.

Amanda Solloway: As with the EBRS, the Government will be introducing regulations to ensure that heat networks pass through the discount in a 'just and reasonable' manner and to set up wider enforcement measures. As part of this, the Energy Ombudsman and the Consumer Council will be empowered to hear complaints from consumers and micro-businesses in Great Britain and Northern Ireland respectively.

Energy Company Obligation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to change the minimum improvement requirements necessary for homes to qualify for ECO4.

Graham Stuart: There are no current plans to change the minimum improvement requirements. The Government monitors ECO delivery, and if it determines that changes to the policy are required then suitable options will be explored.

Energy Company Obligation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the minimum improvement requirements are for homes to be eligible for (a) ECO3 and (b) ECO4.

Graham Stuart: ECO3 ended on 31 March 2022, and ECO4 will run until 31 March 2026. Under ECO3, householders needed to qualify by being in receipt of eligible benefits. Minimum improvement to properties was not a requirement. ECO4 is focused on providing support to low-income and vulnerable households living in the least energy efficient properties. Under ECO4, there is a minimum requirement for energy suppliers to improve homes in an EPC band F or G to at least a band D and band D or E homes to at least a band C.

Energy: Conservation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what grants his Department provides to (a) individuals and (b) businesses to promote energy efficiency.

Graham Stuart: The Government provides grant funding through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) and Home Upgrade Scheme (HUG), with HUG grant funding being delivered through Local Authorities. The Government also provides support through the Social Housing Decarbonisation and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Scheme. The ECO4 scheme and newly announced Great British Insulation scheme, being launched in Spring 2023, are delivered through a supplier obligation. Through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, £500 million of grant funding will support industry with high energy usage to cut their energy bills and carbon emissions by investing in energy efficiency and low carbon technologies. The BUS also supports the installations of low carbon heating measures in small non-domestic buildings.

Biofuels

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to phase out use of biomass.

Graham Stuart: The Government has no plans to remove support for biomass generating stations that are already supported under the Renewables Obligation and the Contracts for Difference schemes. Such generators undertook their investments in establishing their stations under these schemes and have a statutory right to their existing support. The Government has committed to developing a Biomass Strategy, which will be published by the end of quarter two this year. The Strategy will review how sustainable biomass could be best utilised across the economy to help achieve the UK’s net zero, and wider environmental, commitments while also supporting energy security.

Climate Change

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his priorities are for tackling climate change.

Graham Stuart: Britain is leading the world on tackling climate change. Between 1990 and 2021 the UK has cut emissions by 48% while growing the economy by 65%, decarbonising faster than any other G7 country. The Government’s plan, as set out in Powering Up Britain, shows how the Government will enhance our country’s energy security, seize the economic opportunities of the transition and deliver on its net zero commitments. The Powering Up Britain publication can be found here.

Tidal Power

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise new wave and tidal energy projects.

Graham Stuart: Wave and tidal energy projects are eligible to apply for the Contracts for Difference scheme. Allocation Round 5 opened on 30 March 2023. The budget available for emerging technologies is £35m, inclusive of a £10m ringfenced minimum for Tidal Stream. In addition, the Government supports the development of new wave and tidal energy in the UK through a suite of research funding programmes.

Energy: Prices

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reforming the wholesale energy market to replace the merit order with an average trading price for electricity.

Graham Stuart: Like all commodities markets globally, the wholesale electricity market works through marginal pricing, where the price is set by the additional unit needed to meet overall demand. This provides a signal of the value of consuming or generating an additional unit at any given time, on which both operational and investment decisions can be made. As part of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) programme, the Government is considering a range of potential options to maintain the benefits of marginal pricing, while shielding consumers from the impacts of potential future commodity price spikes and ensuring they benefit from lower cost renewables.

Alternative Fuels: Government Assistance

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what support his Department provides to people who are unable to apply for Alternative Fuels Payment because they do not spend the minimum £200 and who depend upon alternative fuels.

Amanda Solloway: The Government has increased the number of receipts an applicant can use to evidence £200 of alternative fuel usage from 2 to 10. The Government has worked constructively with stakeholders to reach this decision. A limit is necessary however, to help prevent fraudulent applications. The window to apply for funding closes on 31 May 2023, meaning households can still make purchases to bring their total spend to £200 ahead of that date.

Energy Bills Rebate

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is implementing a mechanism to help ensure that households are not rejected from the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding due to records incorrectly stating that the £66 and £67 monthly discount from the Energy Bills Support Scheme has already been automatically applied to a postal address.

Amanda Solloway: Rejected applicants of the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding can contact the contact centre helpline on 0808 175 3287 where a representative can provide additional information on the reasons why their application was rejected and provide further assistance where necessary.

Alternative Fuel Payments: Second Homes

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will take steps to publish the data it holds on Alternative Fuel Payments being claimed by owners of (a) second and (b) holiday homes.

Amanda Solloway: The Government will not be publishing data on Alternative Fuel Payments being claimed by second homeowners or holiday homes, as the Government has taken the decision to only allow people to apply to the AFP Alternative Fund for their main homes.

Energy Bills Rebate: Voucher Schemes

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether unredeemed vouchers under the Energy Bills Support Scheme will be redeemable by those people entitled to them after June 2023.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps for the value of unredeemed vouchers under the Energy Bills Support Scheme to be made available for organisations working to help tackle fuel poverty.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his Department's policy is on the use of funds available from unredeemed vouchers in the Energy Bills Support Scheme when it ends in June 2023.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Bills Support Scheme has delivered £400 to assist households with energy costs this winter. The Government encourage traditional prepayment meter users to redeem their vouchers and apply the credit to their meter as soon as possible. Vouchers have been sent each month, between October and March, via text, email or post by electricity suppliers. Vouchers that have expired or been damaged or lost can be reissued by suppliers on request from the customer. All vouchers must be redeemed by 30 June 2023. Following the closure of the Scheme, all unused funds will be returned to HM Treasury.

UK Emissions Trading Scheme

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ending the free allocation of UK Emissions Trading Scheme permits for oil and gas companies.

Graham Stuart: UK ETS industrial participants, such as those in oil and gas sectors, are provided with free allocations reducing their exposure to the carbon price and mitigating the risk of carbon leakage. The UK ETS Authority is in the process of reviewing the free allocation policy and consulted last year on elements of this. The Government will publish the response in due course. The Government will also be consulting later this year on potential changes to the methodology for distributing free allocations and ways to target those most at risk of carbon leakage.

Energy Company Obligation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much total funding the Government has allocated to (a) ECO3 and (b) ECO4.

Graham Stuart: The ECO scheme is an energy efficiency scheme that places a requirement on larger energy suppliers to deliver energy efficiency and heating measures to people’s homes. Under ECO3, which ran from December 2018 to March 2022, £8.547 billion in lifetime savings was achieved. ECO4 began in April 2022, and will run until March 2026. ECO4 has a target of £224.3 million in annual bill savings over the life of the scheme. The impact assessment for ECO4 moved to annual, rather than lifetime, bill savings due to changes in how ECO projects are scored.

Energy Company Obligation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what proportion of homes have been retrofitted under ECO4; and how many homes the Government aimed to retrofit by March 2023.

Graham Stuart: Information on the number of homes that have received measures under ECO4 can be found in the latest Household Energy Efficiency Statistics Release. ECO4 is the new iteration of the Energy Company Obligation scheme which is set to run from 2022 to 2026. The Government estimates that over this period 450,000 homes will be upgraded. Suppliers have until the end of ECO4 to meet their obligation.

Energy Company Obligation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many homes have been insulated through the ECO4 programme.

Graham Stuart: Information on the number of insulation measures installed in homes through ECO can be found in the latest Household Energy Efficiency Statistics release.

Power Stations: Hydrogen

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to make it his policy to deliver 8GW hydrogen capable power stations by 2030.

Graham Stuart: The Government believes hydrogen-to-power can provide reliable low carbon flexible generation while creating a decarbonisation pathway for unabated generation, supporting decarbonisation ambitions and maintaining security of supply. Government analysis shows that having hydrogen available in the power sector could achieve lower emissions at a lower cost than scenarios without hydrogen. The Government therefore intends to consult in 2023 on the need and potential design options for market intervention to support hydrogen to power.

Energy: Business

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will hold discussions with Ofgem on the potential merits of allowing businesses to renegotiate their energy contracts with suppliers; and if he will make a statement.

Graham Stuart: Contract negotiations are a matter for businesses and their energy suppliers. Businesses should contact their supplier to discuss renegotiations. The Government is providing support to businesses through the Energy Bill Discount Scheme until April 2024. Ministers from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Business and Trade met recently with non-domestic suppliers, Ofgem and industry representatives to discuss what more could be done to support customers who may have fixed in at higher prices in Autumn 2022. The Government is working with Ofgem on this matter and the on-going non-domestic market review.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when his Department plans to respond to the consultation entitled Designing a framework for transparency of carbon content in energy products: call for evidence, published on 16 August 2021.

Graham Stuart: As announced in December 2021, the Department’s work on carbon content in energy products was paused to prioritise activity related to the global increases in gas prices. As described in the March 2023 Energy Security Plan, reform is now necessary so that the retail market drives the transition to a secure, low-cost and low-carbon energy system. A summer 2023 Call for Evidence will examine how the regulatory framework can help deliver this vision. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) programme is also exploring reforms to ensure that Britain’s electricity (non-retail) market arrangements harness the benefits of cheap, abundant renewables.

Energy Bills Discount Scheme

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether (a) zoos and (b) aquariums will be eligible for higher-tier support under the Energy Bills Discount Scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) will continue to provide eligible UK businesses and other non-domestic energy users with a discount on high energy bills from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024.  A higher level of support will be provided for the most energy and trade intensive sectors who meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity through the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) Scheme element of the EBDS. Eligible sectors are represented by a list of SIC codes which has been published here.  In order to be eligible, zoos and aquariums will need to meet the eligibility test and be able to evidence that 50% of their revenue from a specified period is generated from activity within an eligible sector.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Industry: Economic Growth

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans her Department has to work collaboratively with the Department for Education to help ensure sustained growth in the (a) engineering, (b) technology and (c) other sectors.

George Freeman: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is working closely with the Department for Education (DfE) to develop a strong talent pool across industry and academia ensuring engineering, technology and other sectors have access to the skills needed for innovation and growth, for example sharing workforce data on skills demand. We are also working with industry to help them tackle skills shortages, for example co-developing a skills action plan with the space sector.As set out in the Science and Technology Framework, DfE is working on a cross-government action plan to build on the UK’s enviable talent and skills base.

Science and Technology: Apprentices

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating the Science and Technology Framework to include policies on apprenticeships; and if she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Education to increase the number of apprenticeships in the (a) engineering, (b) technology and (c) other key sectors.

George Freeman: The Science and Technology Framework outlines our goals and vision to 2030, including initial work that departments will undertake, but is not intended to provide an exhaustive list of the actions the government is taking. DSIT is working with the Department for Education (DfE) to expand opportunities for participation in STEM skills programmes. DfE's cross-government action plan on STEM talent and skills aims to develop the pipeline of individuals studying and working in priority sectors, including those taking up apprenticeships. With over 350 high-quality apprenticeship standards available in STEM sectors, apprenticeships are an important route for supporting people to begin, or progress in careers in science and technology. From 3 April, small employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy are able to recruit as many apprentices as their business needs where previously they were limited to 10 new apprenticeship starts. There are opportunities available through other routes, too: in the March budget, £63 million was announced for additional places for Skills Bootcamps and Sector-Based Work Academy placements, which will cover technical skills, digital skills and green skills. Apprenticeships are at the forefront of DfE's employer-centred skills system reforms.

Artificial Intelligence

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will respond to the open letter entitled Pause giant AI experiments: an open letter.

Paul Scully: It is important that industry voices are actively engaged in the discourse around responsible AI. British based companies, like Deepmind, are at the forefront of responsible innovation. However, it should be noted that questions have been raised regarding the veracity of some of the signatures of the open letter on Artificial Intelligence published by the Future of Life Institute (FLI). Some of the researchers whose work was cited in the letter have also apparently raised concerns. It is also important to note that the letter is not expressly targeted towards the UK or any other government.Government recognises the need to act to adapt the way in which we regulate AI as systems become more powerful, and are put to different use. As Sir Patrick Vallance highlighted in his recent regulatory review, there is a small window of opportunity to get this right and build a regulatory regime that enables innovation while addressing the risks. Government agrees that a collaborative approach is fundamental to addressing AI risk and supporting responsible AI development and use for the benefit of society. The AI regulation white paper we published on 29 March identifies “trustworthy”, “proportionate” and “collaborative” as key characteristics of the proposed AI regulation framework.The AI regulation white paper sets out principles for the responsible development of AI in the UK. These principles such as safety, fairness, and accountability are at the very heart of our approach to ensuring the responsible development and use of AI. We will also establish a central risk function to bring together cutting-edge knowledge from industry, regulators, academia and civil society – including skilled computer scientists with a deep technical understanding of AI - to monitor future risks and adapt our approach if necessary. This is aligned with the calls to action in FLI’s letter.In addition, our recently announced Foundation Model Taskforce has been established to strengthen UK capability - in a way that is aligned with the UK’s values - as this potentially transformative technology develops.The approach to AI regulation outlined in the AI regulation White Paper is also complemented by parallel work on AI Standards, supported by the AI Standards Hub launched in October 2022, and via the Centre for Data Ethics and Innvovation’s AI Assurance Roadmap, published in December 2021. In concert, our holistic approach to AI governance combining regulation with an approach to standards development and AI assurance is in line with efforts to develop shared safety protocols, and will at the same time allow the UK to benefit from AI technologies while protecting people and our fundamental values.

IX Wireless: North West

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the level of investment by IX Wireless in the local authorities in (a) Bolton, (b) Blackburn, (c) Rochdale, (e) Bury, (f) Lancashire.

Julia Lopez: I am aware that IX Wireless is in the process of rolling out its network in your constituency and surrounding areas, making use of permitted development rights to install telegraph poles.This issue was debated in the House on 15 March 2023. During that debate I said the Government is looking closely at how to ensure all operators are aware of, and adhere to, their responsibilities when under both the legislative framework and the associated code of practice on pole siting. In addition we are looking at whether additional work is needed to ensure local authorities understand their role in the process, including their ability to impose conditions on where poles and cabinets are sited and the ability to escalate issues to Ofcom.Increasing competition and investment in the fixed telecoms market is integral to the Government’s strategy to deliver nationwide coverage of gigabit-capable broadband. In the 2018 Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review and the 2019 Statement of Strategic Priorities, we brought forward substantive proposals to make it easier for new firms to enter the market and compete with the incumbent provider, such as granting competitors access to Openreach’s national network of ducts and poles.As a result of our pro-competition policies, there is now a thriving market of over 80 providers investing nearly £35bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK. In Lancashire, 73% of premises can access gigabit-capable networks, up from just 5.6% in November 2019.

Project Gigabit: Westmorland and Lonsdale

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an estimate of the percentage of properties in Westmorland and Lonsdale which will have Gigabit availability by the end of Project Gigabit.

Julia Lopez: As part of Project Gigabit, in November 2022 we awarded a £109 million contract to the supplier Fibrus to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to up to 59,000 premises across Cumbria that are not included in suppliers’ commercial plans.By the end of the contract, it is expected that over 99% of premises in the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency will have access to a gigabit-capable connection, through both subsidised and commercial delivery. This is a huge leap in gigabit-capable coverage across the constituency, which currently stands at slightly over 48%.

Project Gigabit: Cumbria

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many properties in Cumbria County Council are within the scope of Project Gigabit.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many properties in Cumbria County Council within the scope of Project Gigabit will not be connected by 2025.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what information her Department holds on the number of postcode premises in Cumbria County Council that will be classified as White under Project Gigabit's classification system by the end of Project Gigabit in 2025.

Julia Lopez: Up to 59,000 premises are included in the £109 million Project Gigabit contract being delivered by Fibrus in Cumbria. Approximately 98% of these premises fall into the Cumbria County Council area.There are approximately 5,200 premises within Project Gigabit in Cumbria which are currently planned to be delivered in 2026, the final year of the project.There are also 22,000 premises which are in the ‘deferred scope’ of the contract. The deferred scope covers premises within active voucher projects, or where there is a reasonable likelihood of commercial coverage. To allow delivery through alternate means and the best use of public subsidy, these premises are held until the latter stages of the contract, and brought into plan if required. The likelihood is that the majority of premises within ‘deferred scope’ will be reached by other means, but otherwise they will be brought forward in the Project Gigabit plan.BDUK will continue to monitor supplier plans in the area as the contract progresses, which will enable us to form an accurate picture of the premises that will be classified as ‘gigabit white’ at the end of 2025. These premises will be brought within the scope of Project Gigabit where possible.Premises that are not reached as part of the Project Gigabit contract in Cumbria, or through suppliers’ commercial build plans, may become eligible for other interventions such as the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme or potential future interventions aimed at connecting very hard to reach premises.

Project Gigabit: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much and what proportion of the funding released for Project Gigabit has been spent on projects in Wales.

Julia Lopez: We are currently completing the market engagement that will enable us to develop the intervention areas for our Project Gigabit procurements in Wales, with the aim of launching these by the summer.Projects under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme continue to deliver in Wales, and in February 2023, Building Digital UK contacted all suppliers to identify and propose potential voucher projects where delivery could be faster and provide better than procurements.As reported in our most recent Project Gigabit quarterly update, almost 2,800 vouchers have already been used to deliver gigabit-capable connections to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas of Wales. The combined value of these vouchers amounts to £7 million in public subsidy.Our earlier Superfast contract in Wales is also delivering gigabit-capable infrastructure in Wales. The project is nearing completion and will lead to up to a further 37,000 premises getting access to gigabit-capable broadband.

Northern Ireland Office

Roads: Freight

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland's road haulage industry on the Windsor Framework since 27 February 2023.

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the response of the Northern Ireland haulage industry to the Windsor Framework.

Mr Steve Baker: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland meets regularly with Northern Ireland stakeholders, including representatives of the road haulage industry to discuss a range of relevant issues, including following the announcement of the Windsor Framework. The Windsor Framework restores the free flow of trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland with a first-of-its-kind green lane that will enable goods destined for NI to move easily without burdensome customs bureaucracy. Customs paperwork will be scrapped and replaced with data sharing of ordinary, existing commercial information. This information will be provided from sales invoices and transport contracts – information that businesses will already hold and use for the movement of goods. In other words, the only data traders will need to move from Birmingham to Belfast is the same as if they were going to the Isle of Wight. We have also secured complete unfettered access for NI goods on the UK market, with no export processes required.

Northern Ireland Office: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.

Mr Steve Baker: As of January 2023, of the 74.2% of staff working in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) who have completed their disability declaration information, 9.2% shared they had a disability. 4.9% of those who have declared their information have reported they ‘prefer not to say’. This data is completed anonymously by employees via our online HR system (SOP). The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022 maintains our focus on mainstreaming the delivery of inclusion and achieving our key priorities as outlined in the Declaration on Government Reform. We will continue to build a more inclusive Civil Service going further than the current Equality Act provisions by building on and expanding a previous focus on Protected Characteristics to deliver for all of our people. Incorporating a broader definition of diversity (such as socioeconomic, work experience and geographic backgrounds) and embedding activity in our strategic priorities will enable the successful delivery of our corporate objectives. Disability remains a focus of this work and we continue to identify and remove barriers affecting disabled colleagues. Representation of disabled staff is increasing at all grades, whilst this trend is positive, we remain committed to improving the representation of disabled colleagues across our workforce and in particular at our most senior grades. All main Government departments have Disability Confident Leader (level 3) status on the Government’s Disability Confident Scheme, the highest level of accreditation. The scheme gives employers the tools to recruit, retain and develop disabled people, and acts as a catalyst for continuous improvement. The Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Service is well established, offering specialist advice and access to a review route for disabled employees experiencing difficulties in securing the adjustments they need. The service includes a Workplace Adjustment Passport to facilitate the seamless retention of adjustments on a change of line manager, job role or move between business areas or departments. We will continue to target action where gaps persist.

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will take steps to clarify the funding that will be allocated through NIO direction to Northern Irish Departments for (a) NHS waiting lists in Quarter 1 2023/24 (b) air connectivity to Derry/Londonderry (c) Easter school holiday lunches and (d) rural community transport.

Mr Steve Baker: In the absence of functioning devolved institutions, Northern Ireland Office officials continue to work with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive Department of Finance on the budget allocations for the 2023-24 financial year. Based on the Northern Ireland budget position for the 2022-23 financial year, the expectation is that balancing the 2023-24 budget will be extremely challenging. The UK Government recognises that there will be impacts on people and businesses in Northern Ireland as a result of the difficult decisions needed in order for Northern Ireland Executive departments to live within their budgets. It remains the UK Government’s firm view that the right people to make these decisions are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and local Assembly. In the absence of these, it will be for the relevant Northern Ireland Executive departments to manage their funding, in accordance with powers provided under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2022.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice can confirm that of those staff who declared their disability status, as at the end of March 2022, 15% of MoJ staff were declared disabled.

Powers of Attorney

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many lasting powers of attorney applications to the Office of the Public Guardian are awaiting processing as of 29 March 2023; and what steps his Department is taking to improve the processing time of those applications.

Mike Freer: As of 29 March 2023, 396,858 applications for Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) were at different stages of being processed (i.e. from being received via post, up to being registered and awaiting dispatch). This includes 76,361 applications in the 20-day statutory waiting period to allow any objections to be lodged. For the financial year 2022-23, up to and including the latest full month of February, 811,008 applications had already been registered and dispatched. All figures exclude the registration of Enduring Powers of Attorney which, while valid, have been replaced by LPAs since the Mental Capacity Act 2005 came into effect.Eliminating the backlog that arose during the pandemic and responding to increased demand is a priority for the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) to enable the return to processing times achieved before the pandemic. To achieve this, extra staff have been hired, staff are working overtime and across multiple shift patterns, and process efficiencies have been introduced. The government is also supporting the Powers of Attorney Bill, which will create a faster and simpler service for customers in future.

Crematoriums: Fees and Charges

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that crematoriums charge the same amount to all customers within a ten mile radius.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to regulate crematorium fees.

Mike Freer: The Government does not have operational responsibility for the provision of cremation services. The service is provided either by the local authority or a private company. As the price of a cremation is a commercial decision, it is appropriate that this decision lies with the cremation authority or the crematoriums.

Terramation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department’s policy is on terramation; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Freer: Alternative methods of disposal that do not involve burial, or the burning of human remains are currently unregulated and fall outside the scope of the existing legislation on burials and cremation. Providers wishing to offer such services must ensure they comply with any other relevant legislation or regulation.The Law Commission has now started its project looking at modernising and streamlining the law governing the disposal of human remains, with a view to putting forward a legal framework for the future. We expect it will include consideration of the creation of a regulatory framework for safe and dignified new processes, including terramation. Further details of this work can be found on the Law Commission website: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/a-modern-framework-for-disposing-of-the-dead/.

Drugs: Prisons

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle illegal drug use within the prison system.

Damian Hinds: As part of the cross-government Drugs Strategy, MoJ received up to £120m funding to get more offenders into treatment. We work closely with NHS England to ensure that all those who need drug treatment in prison have access to a full range of high-quality treatment, with a focus on abstinence-based recovery.To do this we are rolling out up to 18 new Drug Recovery Wings, providing a dedicated space for prisoners to focus on achieving abstinence from illicit drugs and prescribed substitutes such as methadone. We are also opening 100 Incentivised Substance Free Living Wings, recruiting Drug Strategy Leads in all male category C and women's prisons to coordinate a whole system approach to tackling drugs, as well as Health and Justice Coordinators nationwide to ensure continuity of care for prison leavers.We have also invested £100m in prison security to prevent drugs from entering prison in the first place through our Security Investment Programme, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones.

Offences against the Administration of Justice

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the effectiveness of provisions available to the police in respect of dealing with potential false accusations.

Edward Argar: The Government’s policies on crime are designed to deliver better justice for all be that for victims, witnesses or defendants. The police are required to investigate all cases that are referred to them – and all cases should be treated equally in terms of their approach to investigation. The Government’s policies should not, therefore, have a negative impact on the ability of the police to investigate, or for the courts to deal with, such false accusations.

Reparation by Offenders

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on establishing a pilot programme to understand where there are gaps in provision of restorative justice.

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report of the APPG on Restorative Justice entitled Restorative Justice Inquiry Report, published in 2022, whether his Department plans to publish an updated Restorative Justice Action Plan for the Criminal Justice System.

Edward Argar: We are committed to supporting restorative justice as a way to help victims cope and, as far as possible, recover from the impact of crime. That is why, under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’), all adult victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it. We also provide Police and Crime Commissioners with grant funding for victim support services, including restorative justice services. They are best placed to assess local need and commission services based on the needs of the population in the local area. Restorative justice services should be targeted to the most appropriate cases, where we have clear evidence for the benefits of that approach and should only take place when both the victim and the offender agree, and it is considered safe. HMPPS has work underway to look at how to better support MoJ funded restorative justice. This work is aimed at identifying the factors supporting quality practice and to test effective, evidence-based access to, and delivery of RJ services.  HMPPS will also work with PCC areas to improve referrals to RJ services. Once complete HMPPS will share the lessons learned more widely. We do not currently plan to publish a restorative justice action plan because it is not clear that this is necessary or an appropriate fit with the existing activity to improve the consistent and targeted provision of restorative justice services at a local level.

Victims: Children and Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Victims Bill will include provisions on (a) mental and emotional wellbeing and (b) other support for children and young people.

Edward Argar: Victims are likely to experience a range of impacts following a crime and may require advice, recovery and support services, which could be medical, therapeutic, practical and/or emotional. The Victims and Prisoners Bill will improve the support offered to children and young people. Child victims are covered by the definition of victim in Part 1 of the Bill and are already covered in the current Victims’ Code. The Bill’s definition of a victim has been amended to align with the full Part 1 definition of domestic abuse as it appears in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which will also be set out in the new Victims’ Code. This clearly defines child victims who see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse as victims in their own right. Child victims will continue to be covered in the new Victims’ Code as well as being covered from the full suite of measures in Part 1 of the Bill. For example:The Bill recognises the role that ISVAs (Independent Sexual Violence Advisors) and IDVAs (Independent Domestic Violence Advisors) have in working with children, young people, and their families.The Bill will place a duty on Police and Crime Commissioners, local authorities and Integrated Care Boards in England to collaborate when commissioning victim services. This includes a range of services which may support victims with a range of emotional mental health support.In response to pre-legislative scrutiny, we emphasised where the needs of children should be considered by requiring commissioners to specifically have regard to any assessments they have carried out that reflect the needs of child victims, as distinct from adult victims.

Offences against Children

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to enable child victims of sexual violence to (a) provide video evidence ahead of a trial and (b) receive counselling immediately.

Edward Argar: Child victims of sexual violence are eligible for special measures, including pre-recording their evidence, under Section 16 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (YJCEA), which considers all children as vulnerable witnesses. This enables the recording to be presented during the trial without the witness needing to attend, which helps them give their best evidence to the court and mitigate some of the stress associated with giving evidence. The aim is to enhance the quality and reliability of evidence by improving experiences of cross-examination and enhancing event recall by reducing the time between complaint and cross-examination.Under the Victims’ Code, all victims, including children, have the right to receive information about and be referred to support services, including therapy and counselling, regardless of whether anyone has been charged or convicted of a criminal offence, or whether they decide to report the crime to the police or do not wish to cooperate with the investigation.The Ministry of Justice is more than quadrupling funding for victims and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41m in 2009/10. This includes funding for Police and Crime Commissioners to commission services supporting victims of sexual violence, including services providing counselling to children.The Ministry of Justice is currently recommissioning the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund, to make sure it meets the needs of all victims in the most effective way, including child victims of sexual violence. This funding is available to specialist, community-based sexual abuse support services to deliver a range of help, including counselling, to child and adult victims to cope, recover, build resilience and move forward with daily life.Additionally, NHS England commissions 48 Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) across England with at least one in each county/region to ensure equitable spread. SARCs offer medical, practical and emotional support to anyone who has been raped, sexually assaulted or abused, including child victims of sexual violence.

Fatal Accidents Act 1976

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Government Response to the Twenty-first Report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights of Session 2017-19, Proposal for a draft Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (Remedial) Order 2019, HC 2225,  what progress has been made on extending eligibility for bereavement damages under Section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 to fathers of illegitimate children.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason fathers of illegitimate children are not eligible for bereavement damages under Section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to take steps to increase the statutory amount of bereavement damages in Section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

Edward Argar: The Government’s position remains that it believes the existing legal framework, involving a fixed level of award and clear eligibility criteria, represents a reasonable, proportionate and practical approach. Changes to extend availability to other family members (including fathers of illegitimate children) whose relationship to the deceased person may be less close may require a fundamentally different approach which would permit enquiries into the nature of the relationship in individual cases. This could lead in some cases to intrusive and upsetting investigation of the claimant’s relationship with the deceased person and could also increase the cost and complexity of the proceedings. The context is important - bereavement damages are widely recognised and accepted as a fixed payment in acknowledgment of grief and are in no way intended to try to reflect the value of the life lost in monetary terms. They are only one element of the damages that may be awarded in a particular case, which for example can also include damages for dependency. The statutory sum for bereavement damages was increased in 2020 (to £15,120).

Ministry of Justice: Written Questions

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to Questions (a) 171419, (b) 171420, (c) 171421 and (d) 171422 tabled by the hon. Member for Croydon North.

Damian Hinds: 171421 was answered on 27 March, and 171419, 171420 and 171422 on 6 April.

Crime Prevention: Young People

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking through the criminal justice system to help young people avoid crime.

Damian Hinds: The Beating Crime Plan 2021 highlighted the importance of early intervention for all young people; targeted support for those at risk of involvement in criminality; and targeted interventions for those who have started to offend. It is better that children do not enter the justice system at all, which is why the Ministry of Justice works with partners across and outside of government on programmes which provide help earlier on. The Turnaround programme is providing £56.5m multi-year grant funding to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) across England and Wales until March 2025, enabling them to intervene earlier and improve outcomes for children on the cusp of entering the youth justice system. This additional funding will enable YOTs to work with up to 17,500 more children not currently on their caseload. The department’s Youth Justice Sports Fund also recently provided £5m to early intervention sport programmes working with 10–17-year-olds considered to be at risk of entering the justice system, who have benefitted from mentoring, volunteering and sports-based activities. For those children who do enter the justice system, we want to see local areas addressing the underlying needs which drove that offending behaviour. As part of this, last year the Ministry of Justice developed new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor and drive Youth Offending Teams’ and partners’ effectiveness in, for example, ensuring more children who commit crime have the education, training or employment opportunities to break the cycle of offending. These new KPIs came into force on 1 April.

Prisoners: Training

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help prisoners develop new skills.

Damian Hinds: We know that getting prisoners into employment on release is key to leading law-abiding lives in the community. Prisoners who participate in in-prison education are 9 percentage points less likely to reoffend on release. To help prisoners develop new skills we are:delivering a Prisoner Education Service which raises the level of the numeracy, literacy and skills of prisoners, with the aim of securing jobs or apprenticeships after they leave custody;rolling out new Heads of Education Skills and Work to provide expert guidance to governors in designing education and training provision for their populations;establishing an Employability Innovation Fund to enable Governors to work with more employers and training providers to repurpose workshops, deliver sector specific skills training and to improve prisoners’ literacy via a Literacy Innovation Fund; andallowing prisoners to undertake apprenticeships which they can complete in the community following a change in the law made in September 2022.

Prisons: Smuggling

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the rollout of new prison scanners in preventing contraband from entering those sites.

Damian Hinds: We have invested £100m to combat crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones. Since 2020, we have installed an additional 75 X-ray body scanners, bringing the total to 97 and providing coverage to the entire closed adult male estate. As of October 2022, there have been 28,626 positive indications recorded on these scanners. A full evaluation of our security investments is underway and will be published in 2023. We are also in the process of deploying 83 X-ray baggage scanners across the prison estate. The effectiveness of these scanners will be considered as part of a separate evaluation.

Prisons: Ethnic Groups

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to address the findings of the report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons entitled The Experiences of Black Male Prisoners and Black Prison Staff, published in December 2022.

Damian Hinds: HMPPS take the findings of reports from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons seriously. We recognise that improving outcomes for Black prisoners and staff will require a long-term commitment from the entire organisation. A full response, which sets out the detailed actions we will take to address the findings of the HMI Prisons Inspectorate thematic inspection on the Experience of Adult Male Prisoners and Black Staff was published on 22 March and can be found via the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thematic-review-of-the-experience-of-adult-male-prisoners-and-black-staff.

Prisoners: Childbirth

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many babies have been born on the prison estate in each of the last 10 years.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women have experienced miscarriages whilst in prison in each of the last 10 years.

Damian Hinds: We began collecting information on the number of babies born to women in the prison estate in 2020-21. Information is not available for previous years. During the nine months to 31 March 2021, and the twelve months to 31 March 2022, fewer than five babies were born within the prison estate in England and Wales in each period. We have not provided the exact figure, as that could lead to the identification of individuals. Any information relating to the number of women who have experienced miscarriages would be held by the National Health Service, and not by the Ministry of Justice.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of people employed within her Department have recorded that they have a disability.

Mark Spencer: As of 31st December, 16.1% of Core Defra employees have recorded that they have a disability/lifelong health condition. This representation rate has been calculated by the number of staff reporting they have a disability divided by the number who have reported their disability status, excluding those with an unknown status or prefer not to say/undeclared. This is above the last published Civil Service wide figure of 13.6% (2021) of civil servants having declared a disability Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Dashboard - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Defra is a Disability Confident employer (Level 3) and has many policies in place to ensure the Civil Service is an inclusive workplace for everyone, including those who have disabilities, such as Workplace Adjustments policies, Occupational Health and Employee Assistance Programme and Employee Passports. Defra are members of the Business Disability Forum and ensure we are always appraised of current best practice. All Defra Colleagues can also participate and receive support via our Employee led Networks, supported by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champions, this includes our Disability networks and Disability Boards. Defra also engages with the Cross Government Workplace Adjustments forum, to ensure we are learning from and contributing to best practice across government.

Animal Breeding

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the business test under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) England Regulations 2018 for breeders who breed two or fewer litters per year.

Rebecca Pow: We are currently conducting a post-implementation review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. The review will consider the need for any refinements to the eight licensable activities, including dog breeding, in light of evidence provided by stakeholders, partners, and local authorities.

Farmers: Bolton South East

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support her Department provides to farmers in Bolton South East constituency.

Mark Spencer: We recognise that global factors outside the Government’s control are increasing farmer’s input costs, particularly fertiliser, feed, fuel and energy, and that increased input costs can be challenging to cashflow. To support farmers in England, the Government decided that the 2022 Basic Payment Scheme payment will be made in two instalments each year for the remainder of the agricultural transition period, to help farmers with their cashflow. We are also increasing revenue payment rates for the Countryside Stewardship scheme by ca. 30% to reflect the change in costs since 2013. To further help with high input costs, Government has removed the 25% tariff on maize imports from the USA to help with animal feed costs. We have also introduced measures to help with the impact of global impacts on fertiliser supply chains. These include a fertiliser industry roundtable, delayed changes to the use of urea fertiliser, encouraging use of organic fertiliser and new technologies. We have supported farmers through the worst global outbreak of Avian Flu in many years through an improved the Avian Flu compensation scheme for farmers and eased marketing rules to give certainty over business planning. Government announced 45,000 visas for seasonal workers for the horticulture sector to ensure they have the labour they need, up 15,000 from start of 2022. Other support includes changes to guidance on farmers using manures, increased grants for farmers and growers, boosting research and development, and supporting farmers to build the health and fertility of their soil through the Sustainable Farming Incentive. We have committed to spend around £600 million on grants and other support for farmers to invest in productivity, animal health and welfare, innovation over three years and paid out over £30 million so far in grants for technology and equipment, having increased the original budget from £17 million and committed £90 million to our Innovation Programme.

Marine Protected Areas: Northern Ireland

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to take steps with relevant authorities in Northern Ireland to help enable the establishment of two marine Special Protection Areas in East Coast and Carlingford Lough.

Trudy Harrison: Yes, officials are working with their counterparts in Northern Ireland on these two sites.

Honey: Imports

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of trends in the level of adulterated honey imported into the UK.

Mark Spencer: The Government takes any type of food fraud very seriously, including honey adulteration. Defra works closely with enforcement authorities, the Food Standards Agency, and the National Food Crime Unit on investigating any fraud issues raised to ensure honey sold in the UK is not subject to adulteration, meets our high standards and maintains a level playing field between honey producers. Honey is a complex natural product and analysis to determine if honey has been adulterated can be challenging. The Government has a programme of research dedicated to verifying honey authenticity which is actively working to provide information and guidance to those carrying out monitoring and enforcement checks on honey, to protect consumers and legitimate businesses. We are working closely with Food Standards Agency to follow-up on recent reports in an EU survey where a small number of exported honey samples were flagged as suspicious for adulteration with added sugars. We will act immediately if we find any wrongdoing as part of our investigation.

Honey: Sales

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the implications for its policies of reports of potential adulteration of honey sold in the UK.

Mark Spencer: All honey on sale in the UK must comply with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015, with equivalent legislation applying across Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This legislation sets out detailed specifications for composition, labelling, and quality criteria. The Government takes any type of food fraud very seriously, including honey adulteration. We are working closely with Food Standards Agency to follow-up on recent reports in an EU survey where a small number of exported honey samples exported via the UK were flagged as suspicious for adulteration with added sugars. We will act immediately if we find any wrongdoing as part of the investigation. Honey is a complex natural product and analysis to determine if honey has been adulterated can be challenging. The Government has a programme of research dedicated to verifying honey authenticity which is actively working to provide information and guidance to those carrying out monitoring and enforcement checks on honey, to protect consumers and legitimate businesses.

Rights of Way: Registration

Steve Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 19 October 2022 to Question 59009 on Rights of Way and of 9 March to Question 150378 Rights of Way: Registration, whether she plans to repeal the 2026 cut-off date to record historic rights.

Trudy Harrison: The Secretary of State has decided to commence the cut-off date for recording historic public rights of way which will provide certainty for all parties. The Government remains committed to implementing the rights of way reforms package as soon as reasonably practicable, which will streamline processes and benefit users, landowners and local authorities. However, in recognising the reforms have experienced delays due to Covid, the Secretary of State has also decided to use existing powers in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to implement a full 5-year extension of the cut-off date to 1 January 2031. This will allow time for our rights of way reforms to have a real impact. The Secretary of State is keen to promote responsible access, protect nature and support people who work and live in the countryside.

Sewage: Kent

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Environment Agency on raw sewage discharges on the Kent coast.

Rebecca Pow: I meet regularly with the Environment Agency (EA) to discuss the unacceptable volume of sewage discharged by water companies. They will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, they will not hesitate to hold companies to account. I understand the Environment Agency’s Kent Area Director is due to meet with you in May where this matter can be discussed further.

Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure producers of electronic equipment fulfil the obligations of section 74(2b) of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013.

Rebecca Pow: Regulation 74(2) of these regulations seeks to ensure eco-design of products to encourage reuse. The Eco Design Regulations provides the framework that sets minimum eco-design requirements for electrical and electronic equipment. Through proposed reforms of the WEEE and batteries regulations the Government is looking to drive up levels of collection of WEEE for re-use and to build on existing requirements in relation to the removability of batteries from electrical equipment.

Animal Housing

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the Scottish Government's planned consultation on the use of (a) cages for game birds and laying hens and (b) farrowing crates for pigs.

Mark Spencer: The UK Government is committed to strengthening animal welfare standards and is currently examining the use of cagesIntergovernmental discussions between Defra and the devolved governments on these matters are ongoing at both ministerial and official level. While animal welfare is a devolved matter under the devolution settlements, the provisional Animal Health and Welfare Common Framework puts in place shared ways of working between Defra and the devolved governments to drive forward common approaches to animal health and welfare law and policy, where agreed by all administrations. Should one or more administrations propose to pursue a divergent approach, Defra and the devolved governments would undertake an assessment of the impacts of any proposed divergence in line with arrangements set out in the Framework.

Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with producers of electrical equipment on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013.

Rebecca Pow: The Secretary of State has not had recent discussions with producers of electrical equipment. Defra officials regularly and proactively engage with producers of electrical and electronic equipment on matters related to these Regulations. The Government will consult later this year on reforms that aim to drive up levels of collection of waste electricals for reuse and recycling. Producers of electrical equipment have been engaged throughout the development of these proposals and will be invited to respond to the consultation when it is published.

Pets: Travel

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of travel guidance on taking a pet abroad; and if she will update that guidance to include guidance on dogs travelling in airplane cabins.

Rebecca Pow: We regularly review and update our pet travel guidance based on user feedback. When travelling to the UK by air, pets travel as manifest cargo to facilitate import checks upon arrival. Only recognised assistance dogs can travel in the cabin of an aircraft when travelling into the UK. Guidance on this is available on GOV.UK Bringing your pet dog, cat or ferret to Great Britain: Guide and assistance dogs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) When travelling with a pet abroad, pet owners and assistance dogs users should seek guidance from the relevant competent authority and airline.

Food Banks

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with businesses on offering surplus food stocks to food banks.

Rebecca Pow: The Food and Drink Waste Hierarchy includes the expectation that all businesses prioritise surplus redistribution before disposal. Government works closely with businesses through our delivery partner the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to overcome any barriers to this requirement. This includes the development of guidance and best practice through a sector wide working group, and support for the Target Measure Act (TMA) approach to understanding and acting on food waste in supply chains, including the redistribution of any surplus should it arise. Since 2018, Defra funding of nearly £13m has supported both large and small redistribution organisations across the country to make sure more surplus food gets to charities.Surplus food redistribution | WRAP

Cats: Theft

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled New offence to tackle dog theft moves step closer, published 18 November 2021, if she intends to bring the proposed legislation forward before the end of this Parliamentary Session; if she will make it her policy to include cats in the proposed pet abduction offence at the outset of the publication of the proposed legislation; what assessment she has made of the evidence of cat theft; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Spencer: We have listened carefully to the views expressed during the passage of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill that the new pet abduction offence should be extended to cats. We are currently considering this issue further. The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will continue its passage as soon as parliamentary time allows and will be announced in the normal way.

Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Report Stage and Third Reading of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will take place.

Mark Spencer: The remaining stages of the Kept Animals Bill will take place when parliamentary time allows. The dates for the remaining Commons stages will be announced in the usual way.

Electronic Cigarettes: Waste Disposal

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) e-cigarette manufacturers and (b) local authorities on the environmentally-friendly disposal of e-cigarettes.

Rebecca Pow: The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with representatives of the vaping industry or local authorities on the environmental impact of electronic cigarettes. Defra and environment agency officials are working closely with the vaping industry and waste electricals recycling sector on compliance with legal obligations for the collection and treatment of waste vapes.

Climate Change

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for his policies of the Climate Change Committee report entitled Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk, published in June 2021; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the UK's preparation and adaption measures for extreme weather.

Trudy Harrison: The Government accepted the findings of the Climate Change Committee’s Independent Assessment of Climate Risk 2021 and these were incorporated into the Government’s Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), which was laid in Parliament in January 2022. The Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) will respond to these findings and will be published in 2023. NAP3 will set out the policies and actions taken across Government to respond to all of the 61 climate risks and opportunities identified in CCRA3.

Water: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) quality and (b) safety of water in Stockport constituency.

Rebecca Pow: Drinking water quality is controlled by the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 in England and companies are required to comply with these regulations. The Drinking Water Inspectorate is the regulator for drinking water in England, and take’s enforcement action should any breach of the standards in the regulations occur, in line with its enforcement policy. More information is available on the DWI website, including the annual report on drinking water quality and compliance tables for individual companies.

Environment Agency: Recruitment

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency spent on external recruitment consultants (a) between 31 March 2021 and 30 March 2022 and (b) since 31 March 2022.

Rebecca Pow: In relation to temporary staff, the Environment Agency can report on numbers of employment agency staff and contractors. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 April 2023 to PQ 175621. In terms of support for Environment Agency recruitment, the Environment Agency does not hold this information centrally, as it is managed through local budgets. However, the Environment Agency has a contract with a third-party supplier (PeopleScout) to facilitate its current volume recruitment and this includes advertising costs. This is a notional recharge contract for up to £1.8 million and means the Environment Agency saves money on front line managers undertaking volume recruitment themselves. The Environment Agency’s initial evaluation shows this presents good value for money equating to around £700 per new recruit.

Members: Correspondence

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of 15 December 2022 from the hon. Member for Lewisham East, case reference JD31665.

Trudy Harrison: This correspondence was transferred to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 30 March 2023.

Environment Agency: Recruitment

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff have been recruited to work at the Environment Agency since 31 March 2022.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency has grown by 1,300 full-time equivalent (FTE) since March 2022. This is a net growth accounting for 6% turnover. The total recruitment figure over the same period is 2330 FTE (which includes permanent, fixed term, contractors, and employment agency staff). FTEPermanent FTEFixed Term Contract FTEEmployment Agency Staff FTEContractors FTEOverall TotalMar-2210,098.0279.9285.0261.210924.0Feb-2311,397.6282.0209.5335.212224.4Starters since 31st March 2022 (FTE)1646.9337.1184.4162.22330.6Starters since 31st March 2022 (Headcount)17443451861852460

Hunting Act 2004

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the Hunting Act 2004 to strengthen measures against fox hunting.

Trudy Harrison: The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law. The Government has made it clear that the Hunting Act will not be amended – that is a manifesto commitment.

Environment Agency: Migrant Workers

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of people recruited to work at the Environment Agency since 31 March 2022 have required the Environment Agency assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship to employ them.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency has employed 13 individuals requiring a skilled worker visa since March 2022. An additional six individuals have been allocated a Certificate of Sponsorship but have not yet started employment at the Environment Agency.

Environment Agency: Staff

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total number of staff was employed by the Environment Agency as of 1 March 2023.

Rebecca Pow: The total number of staff employed by the Environment Agency is detailed below. The official data we use is extracted from the Environment Agency’s system for the last working day of each month. Therefore, the data below is as at 28 February 2023. FTEPermanent FTEFixed Term Contract FTEEmployment Agency Staff FTEContractors FTEOverall TotalEnvironment Agency Total11,397.6282.0209.5335.212,224.4EA workforce (Full Time equivalent – FTE).

Tuna: Quotas

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many tonnes of commercial Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna quota the Government plans to acquire; and how much and what proportion of that tonnage will be designated to Scotland.

Mark Spencer: The UK has 65.4 tonnes of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna quota in 2023. Currently, eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna is managed as a UK unallocated stock and is not apportioned between the UK Fisheries Administrations. Defra is considering how best to manage the UK’s eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna quota in future years.

Plastics: Pollution Control

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to meet Target 7 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework on working towards eliminating plastic pollution.

Rebecca Pow: The UK is a leading voice in tackling plastic pollution and, as a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, we are calling for an ambitious target to end plastic pollution under a new legally binding treaty. We have already banned or restricted a number of problematic plastic items, including single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds, as well as microbeads in rinse-off personal care products. We will also ban the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, and trays to the end-user and ban the supply of single-use plastic cutlery and single-use plastic balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, from October 2023. Through the Environment Act, the Government is bringing in a wide range of reforms, including a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and consistent recycling collections for every household and business in England.

Food: Labelling

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the accuracy of food labelling.

Mark Spencer: The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels, whether that be mandatory or voluntary, so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy All food sold on the UK market must comply with food labelling rules. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food. Responsibility for assessing business compliance with the majority of food legislation rests with Local Authorities (LAs). The FSA provides a framework for LAs to regulate food businesses. A key aspect of this is the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (Code) and associated Practice Guidance, which establish a set of expectations for the activities LAs are responsible for under food law and how these are to be delivered. The FSA’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) works closely with the Food Industry Intelligence Network (FIIN), whose members include supermarkets and many businesses within their supply chains.

Glyphosate

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of glyphosate on biodiversity.

Mark Spencer: The Government’s first priority with regard to pesticides is to ensure that they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment. All active substances, including glyphosate, are subject to a scientific risk assessment, drawing on expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive and the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides. This includes an assessment of the toxicity to species that are not the target of the pesticide, such as invertebrates, mammals, birds, and aquatic animals. Pesticides that pose unacceptable risks are not authorised.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason the Government has delayed the publication of the Gambling White Paper.

Stuart Andrew: Our review of the Gambling Act 2005 is the most comprehensive review of gambling regulation since the 2005 Act came into force. We received over 16,000 responses during the call for evidence and are considering all the evidence carefully. We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming weeks.

Civil Society: Finance

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the £100 million support for charities and community organisations announced in the Spring Budget 2023, when she plans to provide further information on (a) how that funding will be administered, (b) the proportion of the funding that will be allocated to assist with immediate operational costs, including energy bills and (c) when applications for that funding will be opened.

Stuart Andrew: As announced in the recent Spring Budget, the government will provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England.Around three quarters of the funding will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk, due to increased demand from vulnerable groups and higher delivery costs. Approximately one quarter of the funding will be used for measures over the next two years to increase the energy efficiency and sustainability of charities and community organisations.Work is underway to finalise the delivery, timings and eligibility criteria. Further details will be announced as soon as possible.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of people employed within her Department have recorded that they have a disability.

Julia Lopez: As at 1 April 2023, 10.1% of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) employees have declared a disability. This answer does not include staff from DCMS who have moved to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and does not include any Executive Agencies or Arms Length Bodies.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Minimum Wage

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2023 to Question 155151 on the Minimum Wage, if he will publish the name of the company which received that contract.

Julia Lopez: In the last 3 years, the Department has awarded contracts to Hays Specialist Recruitment for the supply of specialist workers, through regulated government frameworks.In line with government transparency policy, the Department has published details of contracts awarded to Hays Specialist Recruitment to Contracts Finder. This information is therefore in the public domain.

Caravans: Wheelchairs

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what data her Department holds on (a) the number and proportion of caravan parks that provide wheelchair accessible static caravans for hire and (b) the number of wheelchair accessible static caravans (i) available for hire and (ii) manufactured in the UK in each of the last five years.

Julia Lopez: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not hold data on wheelchair accessibility for static caravans or caravan manufacturing.

Local Broadcasting: Television

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken to reach a decision on local television licensing renewal on (a) local TV stations and (b) their partnerships with (i) funders and (ii) universities.

Julia Lopez: The Government recognises the important contribution and impact that local TV services make to our broadcasting ecosystem and for those across the UK, particularly in their role disseminating relevant news and engaging with local communities.In the Broadcasting White Paper, we announced our intention to make changes to the local TV licensing regime to enable the renewal of the local TV multiplex licence – which would otherwise expire in November 2025 – until 2034. We committed to consulting on the conditions for renewal of the multiplex licence, and on our approach to the renewal or relicensing of the 34 local TV services that broadcast from it and whose licences also expire in November 2025.The Government understands the desire of the sector for clarity on this important issue and intends to publish the consultation in due course.

Events Industry: Departmental Responsibilities

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which Minister in her Department has responsibility for the events sector.

Julia Lopez: As the events industry is a broad sector it is covered across the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.Business events including conferences, trade fairs and shows, along with venues and workforce are covered by myself, as the Minister for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries.Ceremonial events such as the King’s Coronation, and major events such as Eurovision and the City of Culture, fall under the remit of Stuart Andrew MP, as the Minister for Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Absent Voting

Kevin Brennan: To ask the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent discussions the Committee has had with the Electoral Commission on the security of postal votes.

Cat Smith: The Speaker’s Committee has not had discussions with the Electoral Commission on the matter referred to.The Commission has highlighted that voting by post is a safe and popular method of voting, with safeguards in place to protect against from fraud. Postal voters are required to provide their signature and date of birth when applying for a postal vote, and again when casting their vote. Returning Officers are responsible for checking these match.The Commission also encourages campaigners to follow the voluntary Code of Conduct, which makes clear that political parties and campaigners should not assist in completing a ballot paper, or handle completed ballot papers.The Elections Act also included additional measures intended to further strengthen protections around postal voting at future elections.

Attorney General

Prosecutions: Economic Crime

Julian Knight: To ask the Attorney General, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that her Office’s Guidelines on Disclosure enable the effective prosecution of fraud and economic crime.

Michael Tomlinson: The volume of digital material generated in complex case work continues to grow and is particularly noticeable in fraud and economic crime cases. The Attorney General’s Guidelines, updated last year, include some measures to help agencies effectively deliver their disclosure obligations in the digital age. This is an ongoing challenge, and my department is working closely with the SFO and the CPS to explore the particular difficulties inherent in fraud and economic crime and further changes that may be needed.

War Crimes: Russia

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of US government support for the establishment of a hybrid special tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression by Russia against Ukraine; and whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to support its establishment.

Michael Tomlinson: The UK is fully committed to holding Russia to account for its actions in Ukraine. On 20 January, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK had accepted an invitation to join a ‘core group’ of States to shape thinking on how to ensure criminal accountability for the crime of aggression allegedly committed in and against Ukraine, including through a special tribunal. This government, alongside its international partners such as the United States, is considering very closely what a new tribunal might look like. The details of the proposal will matter. Any new tribunal will need sufficient international support and must not undermine the existing accountability mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court.

Leader of the House

Members: Correspondence

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Leader of the House, what the Government's policy is on replies to hon. Members' correspondence being made in the name of civil servants rather than be signed by a Minister.

Penny Mordaunt: As set out in the Cabinet Office Guide to Handling Correspondence (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/handling-government-correspondence-guidance) all correspondence to Ministers from MPs should be signed off at an appropriate ministerial level. Official replies to letters from MPs should only occur where the correspondent has written about the day-to-day operations of an executive agency or a non-departmental public body, in which case the relevant Chief Executive may be asked to reply, or where a Minister determines that the particular circumstances mean an official reply would be more appropriate.